Amusement devices including simulated court games or athletic events

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments include a fantasy sports game. In some embodiments, an expected performance value may be determined. In some embodiments, a same player may appear multiple times in a team. Various other embodiments are described.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/467,643 filed Aug. 25, 2014 which is a continuation of Ser. No.13/160,746 filed Jun. 15, 2011 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,814,695 issued onAug. 26, 2014), which is a continuation in part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/605,826, filed on Oct. 26, 2009 (now U.S. Pat.No. 9,352,220 issued on May 31, 2016). U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/160,746 filed Jun. 15, 2011 claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/479,539, filed on Apr. 27, 2011 which arehereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

Some embodiments may relate to simulated sport events, games based onactions of players in live sport events, other types of events, and/orother types of games.

BACKGROUND

Wagering may include placing a bet that one event will or will nothappen. Fantasy sports may include one or more games related to eventstaking place in real sports games.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows an apparatus for playing a game, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 2 shows an example fantasy sports system according to someembodiments.

FIG. 3 shows an example process that may be performed in someembodiments.

FIG. 4 shows an example process that may be performed in someembodiments.

FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 show example wagering systems that may be included insome embodiments.

FIG. 8 shows an example interface that may be used in some embodiments.

SUMMARY

The following should be understood to be embodiments, not claims.

An apparatus comprising: a processor configured to execute a pluralityof instructions; and a memory on which the plurality of instructions arestored, in which the instructions, when execute, cause the processor to:receive an indication of a first fantasy team for a sport, in which thefirst fantasy team includes a first plurality of members that eachcorrespond to a respective player of the sport, and in which at leasttwo of the first plurality of members correspond to a same first playerof the sport; receive an indication of a second fantasy team for thesport, in which the second fantasy team includes a second plurality ofmembers that each correspond to a respective player of the sport;receive an indication of respective statistics related to each of thecorresponding players of the sport; determine, based on the respectivestatistics, the first fantasy team, and the second fantasy team, apayout ratio for a wager involving the first fantasy team and the secondfantasy team; receive an indication of a wager involving the firstfantasy team and the second fantasy team; determine an outcome of thewager; and transmit an indication of a payout amount based on theoutcome of the wager and the payout ratio.

A.1. The apparatus of claim A, in which at least one of the secondplurality of members corresponds to the same first player of the sport.A.2. The apparatus of claim A, in which the statistic includes astatistic related to past performance of the players in the sport. A.3.The apparatus of claim A, in which determining the payout ratio includesdetermining an expected performance value for the first team,determining an expected performance value for the second team, anddetermining the payout ratio based on the two values. A.3.1. Theapparatus of claim A.3, in which an expected performance value includesa numerical indicator of expected performance based upon statistics ofplayers on a team. A.4. The apparatus of claim A, in which the wagerincludes a wager that a first fantasy team will outperform a secondfantasy team over a period of time A.5. The apparatus of claim A, inwhich determining the outcome of the wager includes determining theoutcome based on events in one or more games involving the players.A.5.1. The apparatus of claim A.5, in which the instructions, whenexecuted, further cause the processor to receive an indication ofperformance of the one or more players in the one or more games. A.6.The apparatus of claim A, in which transmitting the indication of thepayout includes at least one or making the payment, and displaying thepayment in a display.

B. An apparatus comprising: a processor configured to execute aplurality of instructions; and a memory on which the plurality ofinstructions are stored, in which the instructions, when execute, causethe processor to: receive an indication of a first fantasy team for asport, in which the first fantasy team includes a first plurality ofmembers that each correspond to a respective player of the sport, and inwhich at least two of the first plurality of members correspond to asame first player of the sport; receive an indication of respectivestatistics related to each of the corresponding players of the sport;determine, based on the respective statistics, and the first fantasyteam, an expected performance value for the first fantasy team; transmitan indication of an available wager involving the first fantasy team andan indication of the expected performance value; receive a plurality ofbids to enter into the available wager, in which each bid includes arespective second fantasy team for the sport; form a wager involving thefirst fantasy team and one second fantasy team; determine an outcome ofthe wager; and transmit an indication of a payout amount based on theoutcome.

B.1. The apparatus of claim B, in which the plurality of instructions,when executed, further cause the processor to: provide an indication ofthe bids to a submitter of the first team and receive an indication of aselection of the one second team by the submitter. B.2. The apparatus ofclaim B, in which the plurality of instructions, when executed, furthercause the processor to: determine a payout ratio for the wager based onthe expected performance value of the first team and a second expectedperformance value of the second team. B.2.1. The apparatus of claim B,in which each bid includes a respective second expected performancevalue for a respective second team. B.2.2. The apparatus of claim B, inwhich the plurality of instructions, when executed, further cause theprocessor to: determine the second expected performance values based onstatistics related to the second team. B.3. The apparatus of claim B, inwhich each bid includes an indication of a respective payout ratio.B.3.1. The apparatus of claim B.3, in which the plurality ofinstructions, when executed, further cause the processor to: determinethe one second team based on a comparison of the respective payout ratiowith the first expected performance value and a second expectedperformance value associated with the one second team. B.3.1.1. Theapparatus of claim B.3.1, in which determining the one second teamincludes determining the one second team such that the comparison showsthat the respective payout ratio is greater than a ratio of the firstexpected performance value to the second expected performance ratio.B.4. The apparatus of claim B, in which an amount of the wager isincluded in the bid.

B.5. The apparatus of claim B, in which at least one or the secondplurality of members corresponds to the same first player of the sport.B.6. The apparatus of claim B, in which the statistic includes astatistic related to past performance of the players in the sport. B.7.The apparatus of claim B, in which an expected performance value includea numerical indicator of expected performance based upon statistics ofplayers on a team. B.8. The apparatus of claim B, in which the wagerincludes a wager that a first fantasy team will outperform a secondfantasy team over a period of time. B.9. The apparatus of claim B, inwhich determining the outcome of the wager includes determining theoutcome based on events in one or more games involving the players.B.9.1. The apparatus of claim B.9, in which the plurality ofinstructions, when executed, further cause the processor to: receive anindication of performance of the one or more players in the one or moregames. B.10. The apparatus of claim B, in which transmitting theindication of the payout includes at least one or making the payment,and displaying the payment in a display.

C. An apparatus comprising: a processor configured to execute aplurality of instructions; and a memory on which the plurality ofinstructions are stored, in which the instructions, when execute, causethe processor to: determine a first fantasy team for a sport, in whichthe first fantasy team includes a first plurality of members that eachcorrespond to a respective player of the sport; receive from a player anindication of a second fantasy team for the sport, in which the secondfantasy team includes a second plurality of members that each correspondto a respective player of the sport; receive an indication of respectivestatistics related to each of the corresponding players of the sport;determine, based on the respective statistics, and the first fantasyteam, a first performance expectation of the first team in a fantasygame; determine, based on the respective statistics, and the secondfantasy team, a second performance expectation of the second team in thefantasy game; determine a characteristic for a wager on the secondfantasy team to win the fantasy game between the first fantasy team andthe second fantasy team based on the first performance expectation andthe second performance expectation; presenting the characteristic to theplayer; receive an indication of a wager of an amount of money that thesecond fantasy team will win the fantasy game, in which the wager isdefined by the characteristic; determine an outcome of the wager; andtransmit an indication of a payout amount based on the outcome of thewager and the amount of money.

C.1. The apparatus of claim C, in which at least one of the secondplurality of members corresponds to one of the first plurality ofmembers. C.2. The apparatus of claim C, in which the statistic includesa statistic related to past performance of the players in the sport.C.3. The apparatus of claim C, in which an expected performance valueincludes a numerical indicator of expected performance based uponstatistics of players on a team. C.4. The apparatus of claim C, in whichthe wager includes a wager that a second fantasy team will outperform afirst fantasy team over a period of time. C.5. The apparatus of claim C,in which determining the outcome of the wager includes determining theoutcome based on events in one or more games involving the players.C.5.1. The apparatus of claim C.5, in which the instructions, whenexecuted, further cause the processor to receive an indication ofperformance of the one or more players in the one or more games. C.6.The apparatus of claim C, in which transmitting the indication of thepayout includes at least one or making the payment, and displaying thepayment in a display. C.7. The apparatus of claim C, in which thecharacteristic includes a handicap. C.8. The apparatus of claim C, inwhich the performance expectation includes an amount of points. C.9. Theapparatus of claim C, in which the first fantasy team is determinedbased on a received indication of the first fantasy team, and in whichthe indication of the first fantasy team and the second fantasy team arereceived from the first player.

D. An apparatus comprising: a processor configured to execute aplurality of instructions; and a memory on which the plurality ofinstructions are stored, in which the instructions, when execute, causethe processor to: receive an indication of a first fantasy team for asport, in which the first fantasy team includes a first plurality ofmembers that each correspond to a respective player of the sport,receive an indication of respective statistics related to each of thecorresponding players of the sport; determine, based on the respectivestatistics, and the first fantasy team, an expected performance valuefor the first fantasy team; transmit an indication of an available wagerinvolving the first fantasy team and an indication of the expectedperformance value; receive a plurality of second fantasy teams from aplurality of second players, in which each respective fantasy teamincludes a respective set of players; receive an indication ofrespective statistics related to each of the respective players of thesport; determine a respective second expected performance value for eachof the second fantasy teams; determine respective characteristics forrespective wagers involving the first fantasy team and each of therespective second fantasy teams; accepting respective wagers eachdefined by a respective characteristic and involving the first fantasyteam and a respective second fantasy team; determine outcomes of thewagers; and transmit indications of payouts based on the outcomes.

D.1. The apparatus of claim D, in which the characteristics includerespective handicaps. D.2. The apparatus of claim D, in which at leastone member of respective sets of players corresponds to the same firstplayer of the sport. D.3. The apparatus of claim D, in which thestatistics includes a statistic related to past performance of theplayers in the sport. D.4. The apparatus of claim D, in which anexpected performance value include a numerical indicator of expectedperformance based upon statistics of players on a team. D.5. Theapparatus of claim D, in which expected performance values includeexpected points that will be earned in a fantasy game on which thewagers are based. D.6. The apparatus of claim D, in which the wagersincludes respective wagers that a respective second fantasy team willoutperform the first fantasy team over a period of time in view of thecharacteristic. D.7. The apparatus of claim D, in which determining theoutcomes of the wagers includes determining the outcome based on eventsin one or more games involving the players. D.7.1. The apparatus ofclaim D.7, in which the plurality of instructions, when executed,further cause the processor to: receive an indication of performance ofthe one or more players in the one or more games. D.8. The apparatus ofclaim D, in which transmitting the indication of the payouts includes atleast one or making the payments, and displaying the payments in adisplay.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following sections I-X provide a guide to interpreting the presentapplication.

I. Terms

The term “product” means any machine, manufacture and/or composition ofmatter, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term “process” means any process, algorithm, method or the like,unless expressly specified otherwise.

Each process (whether called a method, algorithm or otherwise)inherently includes one or more steps, and therefore all references to a“step” or “steps” of a process have an inherent antecedent basis in themere recitation of the term ‘process’ or a like term. Accordingly, anyreference in a claim to a ‘step’ or ‘steps’ of a process has sufficientantecedent basis.

The term “invention” and the like mean “the one or more inventionsdisclosed in this application”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “theembodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “someembodiments”, “certain embodiments”, “one embodiment”, “anotherembodiment” and the like mean “one or more (but not all) embodiments ofthe disclosed invention(s)”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The term “variation” of an invention means an embodiment of theinvention, unless expressly specified otherwise.

A reference to “another embodiment” in describing an embodiment does notimply that the referenced embodiment is mutually exclusive with anotherembodiment (e.g., an embodiment described before the referencedembodiment), unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising” and variations thereof mean“including but not necessarily limited to”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. Thus, for example, the sentence “the portfolio includes a redwidget and a blue widget” means the portfolio includes the red widgetand the blue widget, but may include something else.

The term “consisting of” and variations thereof means “including andlimited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise. Thus, for example,the sentence “the portfolio consists of a red widget and a blue widget”means the portfolio includes the red widget and the blue widget, butdoes not include anything else.

The term “compose” and variations thereof means “to make up theconstituent parts of, component of or member of”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. Thus, for example, the sentence “the red widget andthe blue widget compose a portfolio” means the portfolio includes thered widget and the blue widget.

The term “exclusively compose” and variations thereof means “to make upexclusively the constituent parts of, to be the only components of or tobe the only members of”, unless expressly specified otherwise. Thus, forexample, the sentence “the red widget and the blue widget exclusivelycompose a portfolio” means the portfolio consists of the red widget andthe blue widget, and nothing else.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise.

The term “plurality” means “two or more”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The term “herein” means “in the present application, including anythingwhich may be incorporated by reference”, unless expressly specifiedotherwise.

The phrase “at least one of”, when such phrase modifies a plurality ofthings (such as an enumerated list of things) means any combination ofone or more of those things, unless expressly specified otherwise. Forexample, the phrase “at least one of a widget, a car and a wheel” meanseither (i) a widget, (ii) a car, (iii) a wheel, (iv) a widget and a car,(v) a widget and a wheel, (vi) a car and a wheel, or (vii) a widget, acar and a wheel. The phrase “at least one of”, when such phrase modifiesa plurality of things does not mean “one of each of” the plurality ofthings.

Numerical terms such as “one”, “two”, etc. when used as cardinal numbersto indicate quantity of something (e.g., one widget, two widgets), meanthe quantity indicated by that numerical term, but do not mean at leastthe quantity indicated by that numerical term. For example, the phrase“one widget” does not mean “at least one widget”, and therefore thephrase “one widget” does not cover, e.g., two widgets.

The phrase “based on” does not mean “based only on”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. In other words, the phrase “based on” describesboth “based only on” and “based at least on”. The phrase “based at leaston” is equivalent to the phrase “based at least in part on”.

The term “represent” and like terms are not exclusive, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. For example, the term “represents” does not mean“represents only”, unless expressly specified otherwise. In other words,the phrase “the data represents a credit card number” describes both“the data represents only a credit card number” and “the data representsa credit card number and the data also represents something else”.

The term “whereby” is used herein only to precede a clause or other setof words that express only the intended result, objective or consequenceof something that is previously and explicitly recited. Thus, when theterm “whereby” is used in a claim, the clause or other words that theterm “whereby” modifies do not establish specific further limitations ofthe claim or otherwise restricts the meaning or scope of the claim.

The term “e.g.” and like terms mean “for example”, and thus does notlimit the term or phrase it explains. For example, in the sentence “thecomputer sends data (e.g., instructions, a data structure) over theInternet”, the term “e.g.” explains that “instructions” are an exampleof “data” that the computer may send over the Internet, and alsoexplains that “a data structure” is an example of “data” that thecomputer may send over the Internet. However, both “instructions” and “adata structure” are merely examples of “data”, and other things besides“instructions” and “a data structure” can be “data”.

The term “respective” and like terms mean “taken individually”. Thus iftwo or more things have “respective” characteristics, then each suchthing has its own characteristic, and these characteristics can bedifferent from each other but need not be. For example, the phrase “eachof two machines has a respective function” means that the first suchmachine has a function and the second such machine has a function aswell. The function of the first machine may or may not be the same asthe function of the second machine.

The term “i.e.” and like terms mean “that is”, and thus limits the termor phrase it explains. For example, in the sentence “the computer sendsdata (i.e., instructions) over the Internet”, the term “i.e.” explainsthat “instructions” are the “data” that the computer sends over theInternet.

Any given numerical range shall include whole and fractions of numberswithin the range. For example, the range “1 to 10” shall be interpretedto specifically include whole numbers between 1 and 10 (e.g., 1, 2, 3,4, . . . 9) and non-whole numbers (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, . . . 1.9).

Where two or more terms or phrases are synonymous (e.g., because of anexplicit statement that the terms or phrases are synonymous), instancesof one such term/phrase does not mean instances of another suchterm/phrase must have a different meaning. For example, where astatement renders the meaning of “including” to be synonymous with“including but not limited to”, the mere usage of the phrase “includingbut not limited to” does not mean that the term “including” meanssomething other than “including but not limited to”.

II. Determining

The term “determining” and grammatical variants thereof (e.g., todetermine a price, determining a value, determine an object which meetsa certain criterion) is used in an extremely broad sense. The term“determining” encompasses a wide variety of actions and therefore“determining” can include calculating, computing, processing, deriving,investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in a table, a database oranother data structure), ascertaining and the like. Also, “determining”can include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g.,accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also, “determining” caninclude resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, and the like.

The term “determining” does not imply certainty or absolute precision,and therefore “determining” can include estimating, extrapolating,predicting, guessing and the like.

The term “determining” does not imply that mathematical processing mustbe performed, and does not imply that numerical methods must be used,and does not imply that an algorithm or process is used.

The term “determining” does not imply that any particular device must beused. For example, a computer need not necessarily perform thedetermining.

III. Forms of Sentences

Where a limitation of a first claim would cover one of a feature as wellas more than one of a feature (e.g., a limitation such as “at least onewidget” covers one widget as well as more than one widget), and where ina second claim that depends on the first claim, the second claim uses adefinite article “the” to refer to the limitation (e.g., “the widget”),this does not imply that the first claim covers only one of the feature,and this does not imply that the second claim covers only one of thefeature (e.g., “the widget” can cover both one widget and more than onewidget).

When an ordinal number (such as “first”, “second”, “third” and so on) isused as an adjective before a term, that ordinal number is used (unlessexpressly specified otherwise) merely to indicate a particular feature,such as to distinguish that particular feature from another feature thatis described by the same term or by a similar term. For example, a“first widget” may be so named merely to distinguish it from, e.g., a“second widget”. Thus, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers “first” and“second” before the term “widget” does not indicate any otherrelationship between the two widgets, and likewise does not indicate anyother characteristics of either or both widgets. For example, the mereusage of the ordinal numbers “first” and “second” before the term“widget” (1) does not indicate that either widget comes before or afterany other in order or location; (2) does not indicate that either widgetoccurs or acts before or after any other in time; and (3) does notindicate that either widget ranks above or below any other, as inimportance or quality. In addition, the mere usage of ordinal numbersdoes not define a numerical limit to the features identified with theordinal numbers. For example, the mere usage of the ordinal numbers“first” and “second” before the term “widget” does not indicate thatthere must be no more than two widgets.

When a single device, article or other product is described herein, morethan one device/ article (whether or not they cooperate) mayalternatively be used in place of the single device/ article that isdescribed. Accordingly, the functionality that is described as beingpossessed by a device may alternatively be possessed by more than onedevice/article (whether or not they cooperate).

Similarly, where more than one device, article or other product isdescribed herein (whether or not they cooperate), a singledevice/article may alternatively be used in place of the more than onedevice or article that is described. For example, a plurality ofcomputer-based devices may be substituted with a single computer-baseddevice. Accordingly, the various functionality that is described asbeing possessed by more than one device or article may alternatively bepossessed by a single device/article.

The functionality and/or the features of a single device that isdescribed may be alternatively embodied by one or more other deviceswhich are described but are not explicitly described as having suchfunctionality/features. Thus, other embodiments need not include thedescribed device itself, but rather can include the one or more otherdevices which would, in those other embodiments, have suchfunctionality/features.

IV. Disclosed Examples and Terminology Are Not Limiting

Neither the Title (set forth at the beginning of the first page of thepresent application) nor the Abstract (set forth at the end of thepresent application) is to be taken as limiting in any way as the scopeof the disclosed invention(s), is to be used in interpreting the meaningof any claim or is to be used in limiting the scope of any claim. AnAbstract has been included in this application merely because anAbstract is required under 37 C.F.R. §1.72(b).

The title of the present application and headings of sections providedin the present application are for convenience only, and are not to betaken as limiting the disclosure in any way.

Numerous embodiments are described in the present application, and arepresented for illustrative purposes only. The described embodiments arenot, and are not intended to be, limiting in any sense. The presentlydisclosed invention(s) are widely applicable to numerous embodiments, asis readily apparent from the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that the disclosed invention(s) may be practiced withvarious modifications and alterations, such as structural, logical,software, and electrical modifications. Although particular features ofthe disclosed invention(s) may be described with reference to one ormore particular embodiments and/or drawings, it should be understoodthat such features are not limited to usage in the one or moreparticular embodiments or drawings with reference to which they aredescribed, unless expressly specified otherwise.

Though an embodiment may be disclosed as including several features,other embodiments of the invention may include fewer than all suchfeatures. Thus, for example, a claim may be directed to less than theentire set of features in a disclosed embodiment, and such claim wouldnot include features beyond those features that the claim expresslyrecites.

No embodiment of method steps or product elements described in thepresent application constitutes the invention claimed herein, or isessential to the invention claimed herein, or is coextensive with theinvention claimed herein, except where it is either expressly stated tobe so in this specification or expressly recited in a claim.

The preambles of the claims that follow recite purposes, benefits andpossible uses of the claimed invention only and do not limit the claimedinvention.

The present disclosure is not a literal description of all embodimentsof the invention(s). Also, the present disclosure is not a listing offeatures of the invention(s) which must be present in all embodiments.

All disclosed embodiment are not necessarily covered by the claims (evenincluding all pending, amended, issued and canceled claims). Inaddition, an embodiment may be (but need not necessarily be) covered byseveral claims. Accordingly, where a claim (regardless of whetherpending, amended, issued or canceled) is directed to a particularembodiment, such is not evidence that the scope of other claims do notalso cover that embodiment.

Devices that are described as in communication with each other need notbe in continuous communication with each other, unless expresslyspecified otherwise. On the contrary, such devices need only transmit toeach other as necessary or desirable, and may actually refrain fromexchanging data most of the time. For example, a machine incommunication with another machine via the Internet may not transmitdata to the other machine for long period of time (e.g. weeks at atime). In addition, devices that are in communication with each othermay communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components or features doesnot imply that all or even any of such components/features are required.On the contrary, a variety of optional components are described toillustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the presentinvention(s). Unless otherwise specified explicitly, nocomponent/feature is essential or required.

Although process steps, algorithms or the like may be described orclaimed in a particular sequential order, such processes may beconfigured to work in different orders. In other words, any sequence ororder of steps that may be explicitly described or claimed does notnecessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in thatorder. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in anyorder possible. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneouslydespite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously(e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover,the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does notimply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations andmodifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process orany of its steps are necessary to the invention(s), and does not implythat the illustrated process is preferred.

Although a process may be described as including a plurality of steps,that does not imply that all or any of the steps are preferred,essential or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of thedescribed invention(s) include other processes that omit some or all ofthe described steps. Unless otherwise specified explicitly, no step isessential or required.

Although a process may be described singly or without reference to otherproducts or methods, in an embodiment the process may interact withother products or methods. For example, such interaction may includelinking one business model to another business model. Such interactionmay be provided to enhance the flexibility or desirability of theprocess.

Although a product may be described as including a plurality ofcomponents, aspects, qualities, characteristics and/or features, thatdoes not indicate that any or all of the plurality are preferred,essential or required. Various other embodiments within the scope of thedescribed invention(s) include other products that omit some or all ofthe described plurality.

An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does notimply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unlessexpressly specified otherwise. Likewise, an enumerated list of items(which may or may not be numbered) does not imply that any or all of theitems are comprehensive of any category, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. For example, the enumerated list “a computer, a laptop, aPDA” does not imply that any or all of the three items of that list aremutually exclusive and does not imply that any or all of the three itemsof that list are comprehensive of any category.

An enumerated list of items (which may or may not be numbered) does notimply that any or all of the items are equivalent to each other orreadily substituted for each other.

All embodiments are illustrative, and do not imply that the invention orany embodiments were made or performed, as the case may be.

V. Computing

It will be readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that thevarious processes described herein may be implemented by, e.g.,appropriately programmed general purpose computers, special purposecomputers and computing devices. Typically a processor (e.g., one ormore microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, one or more digitalsignal processors) will receive instructions (e.g., from a memory orlike device), and execute those instructions, thereby performing one ormore processes defined by those instructions. Instructions may beembodied in, e.g., one or more computer programs, one or more scripts.

A “processor” means one or more microprocessors, central processingunits (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signalprocessors, or like devices or any combination thereof, regardless ofthe architecture (e.g., chip-level multiprocessing/multi-core, RISC,CISC, Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages, pipeliningconfiguration, simultaneous multithreading).

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of anapparatus for performing the process. The apparatus that performs theprocess can include, e.g., a processor and those input devices andoutput devices that are appropriate to perform the process.

Further, programs that implement such methods (as well as other types ofdata) may be stored and transmitted using a variety of media (e.g.,computer readable media) in a number of manners. In some embodiments,hard-wired circuitry or custom hardware may be used in place of, or incombination with, some or all of the software instructions that canimplement the processes of various embodiments. Thus, variouscombinations of hardware and software may be used instead of softwareonly.

The term “computer-readable medium” refers to any medium, a plurality ofthe same, or a combination of different media, that participate inproviding data (e.g., instructions, data structures) which may be readby a computer, a processor or a like device. Such a medium may take manyforms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media,and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example, opticalor magnetic disks and other persistent memory. Volatile media includedynamic random access memory (DRAM), which typically constitutes themain memory. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire andfiber optics, including the wires that comprise a system bus coupled tothe processor. Transmission media may include or convey acoustic waves,light waves and electromagnetic emissions, such as those generatedduring radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR) data communications.Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppydisk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magneticmedium, a CD-ROM, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, papertape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM,an EPROM, a FLASH-EEPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrierwave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computercan read.

Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carryingdata (e.g. sequences of instructions) to a processor. For example, datamay be (i) delivered from RAM to a processor; (ii) carried over awireless transmission medium; (iii) formatted and/or transmittedaccording to numerous formats, standards or protocols, such as Ethernet(or IEEE 802.3), SAP, ATP, Bluetooth□, and TCP/IP, TDMA, CDMA, and 3G;and/or (iv) encrypted to ensure privacy or prevent fraud in any of avariety of ways well known in the art.

Thus a description of a process is likewise a description of acomputer-readable medium storing a program for performing the process.The computer-readable medium can store (in any appropriate format) thoseprogram elements which are appropriate to perform the method.

Just as the description of various steps in a process does not indicatethat all the described steps are required, embodiments of an apparatusinclude a computer/computing device operable to perform some (but notnecessarily all) of the described process.

Likewise, just as the description of various steps in a process does notindicate that all the described steps are required, embodiments of acomputer-readable medium storing a program or data structure include acomputer-readable medium storing a program that, when executed, cancause a processor to perform some (but not necessarily all) of thedescribed process.

Where databases are described, it will be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art that (i) alternative database structures to thosedescribed may be readily employed, and (ii) other memory structuresbesides databases may be readily employed. Any illustrations ordescriptions of any sample databases presented herein are illustrativearrangements for stored representations of information. Any number ofother arrangements may be employed besides those suggested by, e.g.,tables illustrated in drawings or elsewhere. Similarly, any illustratedentries of the databases represent exemplary information only; one ofordinary skill in the art will understand that the number and content ofthe entries can be different from those described herein. Further,despite any depiction of the databases as tables, other formats(including relational databases, object-based models and/or distributeddatabases) could be used to store and manipulate the data typesdescribed herein. Likewise, object methods or behaviors of a databasecan be used to implement various processes, such as the describedherein. In addition, the databases may, in a known manner, be storedlocally or remotely from a device which accesses data in such adatabase.

Various embodiments can be configured to work in a network environmentincluding a computer that is in communication (e.g., via acommunications network) with one or more devices. The computer maycommunicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via any wired orwireless medium (e.g. the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, atelephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communicationsline, commercial on-line service providers, bulletin board systems, asatellite communications link, a combination of any of the above). Eachof the devices may themselves comprise computers or other computingdevices, such as those based on the Intel® Pentium® or Centrino™processor, that are adapted to communicate with the computer. Any numberand type of devices may be in communication with the computer.

In an embodiment, a server computer or centralized authority may not benecessary or desirable. For example, the present invention may, in anembodiment, be practiced on one or more devices without a centralauthority. In such an embodiment, any functions described herein asperformed by the server computer or data described as stored on theserver computer may instead be performed by or stored on one or moresuch devices.

Where a process is described, in an embodiment the process may operatewithout any user intervention. In another embodiment, the processincludes some human intervention (e.g., a step is performed by or withthe assistance of a human).

VI. Continuing Applications

The present disclosure provides, to one of ordinary skill in the art, anenabling description of several embodiments and/or inventions. Some ofthese embodiments and/or inventions may not be claimed in the presentapplication, but may nevertheless be claimed in one or more continuingapplications that claim the benefit of priority of the presentapplication.

Applicants intend to file additional applications to pursue patents forsubject matter that has been disclosed and enabled but not claimed inthe present application.

VII. 35 U.S.C. §112, Paragraph 6

In a claim, a limitation of the claim which includes the phrase “meansfor” or the phrase “step for” means that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6,applies to that limitation.

In a claim, a limitation of the claim which does not include the phrase“means for” or the phrase “step for” means that 35 U.S.C. §112,paragraph 6 does not apply to that limitation, regardless of whetherthat limitation recites a function without recitation of structure,material or acts for performing that function. For example, in a claim,the mere use of the phrase “step of” or the phrase “steps of” inreferring to one or more steps of the claim or of another claim does notmean that 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, applies to that step(s).

With respect to a means or a step for performing a specified function inaccordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, the correspondingstructure, material or acts described in the specification, andequivalents thereof, may perform additional functions as well as thespecified function.

Computers, processors, computing devices and like products arestructures that can perform a wide variety of functions. Such productscan be operable to perform a specified function by executing one or moreprograms, such as a program stored in a memory device of that product orin a memory device which that product accesses. Unless expresslyspecified otherwise, such a program need not be based on any particularalgorithm, such as any particular algorithm that might be disclosed inthe present application. It is well known to one of ordinary skill inthe art that a specified function may be implemented via differentalgorithms, and any of a number of different algorithms would be a meredesign choice for carrying out the specified function.

Therefore, with respect to a means or a step for performing a specifiedfunction in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 6, structurecorresponding to a specified function includes any product programmed toperform the specified function. Such structure includes programmedproducts which perform the function, regardless of whether such productis programmed with (i) a disclosed algorithm for performing thefunction, (ii) an algorithm that is similar to a disclosed algorithm, or(iii) a different algorithm for performing the function.

Where there is recited a means for performing a function that is amethod, one structure for performing this method includes a computingdevice (e.g., a general purpose computer) that is programmed and/orconfigured with appropriate hardware to perform that function.

Also included is a computing device (e.g., a general purpose computer)that is programmed and/or configured with appropriate hardware toperform that function via other algorithms as would be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art.

VIII. Disclaimer

Numerous references to a particular embodiment do not indicate adisclaimer or disavowal of additional, different embodiments, andsimilarly references to the description of embodiments which all includea particular feature do not indicate a disclaimer or disavowal ofembodiments which do not include that particular feature. A cleardisclaimer or disavowal in the present application shall be prefaced bythe phrase “does not include” or by the phrase “cannot perform”.

IX. Incorporation By Reference

Any patent, patent application or other document referred to herein isincorporated by reference into this patent application as part of thepresent disclosure, but only for purposes of written description andenablement in accordance with 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph 1, and should inno way be used to limit, define, or otherwise construe any term of thepresent application, unless without such incorporation by reference, noordinary meaning would have been ascertainable by a person of ordinaryskill in the art. Such person of ordinary skill in the art need not havebeen in any way limited by any embodiments provided in the reference

Any incorporation by reference does not, in and of itself, imply anyendorsement of, ratification of or acquiescence in any statements,opinions, arguments or characterizations contained in any incorporatedpatent, patent application or other document, unless explicitlyspecified otherwise in this patent application.

X. Prosecution History

In interpreting the present application (which includes the claims), oneof ordinary skill in the art shall refer to the prosecution history ofthe present application, but not to the prosecution history of any otherpatent or patent application, regardless of whether there are otherpatent applications that are considered related to the presentapplication, and regardless of whether there are other patentapplications that share a claim of priority with the presentapplication.

XI. Cards

Playing cards have been in existence for many years. Although there aremany types of playing cards that are played in many different types ofgames, the most common type of playing cards consists of 52 cards,divided out into four different suits (namely Spades, Hearts, Diamondsand Clubs) which are printed or indicated on one side or on the face ofeach card. In the standard deck, each of the four suits of cardsconsists of 13 cards, numbered either two through ten, or lettered A(Ace), K (King), Q (Queen), or J (Jack), which is also printed orindicated on the face of each card. Each card will thus contain on itsface a suit indication along with a number or letter indication. TheKing, Queen, and Jack usually also include some sort of design on theface of the card, and may be referred to as picture cards. Other typesof playing cards are described herein, but it should be recognized thatvarious topics may apply to any, some, and/or all type of playing cards.

In some cases, the 52 card standard playing deck also contains a numberof extra cards, sometimes referred to as jokers, that may have some useor meaning depending on the particular game being played with the deck.For example, if a card game includes the jokers, then if a playerreceives a joker in his “hand” he may use it as any card in the deck. Ifthe player has the ten, jack, queen and king of Spades, along with ajoker, the player would use the joker as an Ace of Spades. The playerwill then have a Royal Flush (ten through Ace of Spades).

Many different games can be played using a standard deck of playingcards. The game being played with the standard deck of cards may includeother items, such as game boards, chips, etc., or the game being playedmay only need the playing card deck itself In most of the games playedusing a standard deck of cards, a value is assigned to each card. Thevalue may differ for different games.

Usually, the card value begins with the number two card as the lowestvalue and increases as the numbers increase through ten, followed inorder of increasing value with the Jack, Queen, King and Ace. In somegames the Ace may have a lower value than the two, and in games where aparticular card is determined to be wild, or have any value, that cardmay have the greatest value of all. For example, in card games wheredeuces, or twos, are wild, the player holding a playing card containinga two can use that two as any other card, such that a nine and a twowould be the equivalent of two nines.

Further, the four different suits indicated on the cards may have aparticular value depending on the game. Under game rules where one suit,i.e., Spades, has more value than another suit, i.e., Hearts, the sevenof Spades may have more value than the seven of Hearts.

It is easy to visualize that using the different card quantity and suitvalues, many different games can be played. In certain games, it is thecombination of cards that one player obtains that determines whether ornot that player has defeated the other player or players. Usually, themore difficult the combination is to obtain, the more value thecombination has, and the player who obtains the more difficultcombination (also taking into account the value of the cards) wins thegame.

For instance in the game of Poker, each player may ultimately receivefive cards. The player who obtains three cards having similar numbers ontheir face, i.e., the four of Hearts, four of Diamonds and four ofClubs, will defeat the player having only two cards with the samenumerical value, i.e., the King of Spades and the King of Hearts.However, the player with five cards that all contain Clubs, commonlyknown as a flush, will defeat the player with the same three of a kinddescribed above.

In many instances, a standard deck of playing cards is used to creategaming machines. In these gaming machines players insert coins and playcertain card games, such as poker, using an imitation of standardplaying cards on a video screen, in an attempt to win back more moneythan they originally inserted into the machine.

Another form of gambling using playing cards utilizes tables, otherwiseknown as table games. A table uses a table and a dealer, with theplayers sitting or standing around the table. The players place theirbets on the table and the dealer deals the cards to each player. Thenumber of cards dealt, or whether the cards are dealt face up or facedown, will depend on the particular table game being played.

Further, an imitation or depiction of a standard playing card is used inmany handheld electronic games, such as poker and blackjack, and in manycomputer games and Internet games. Using a handheld electronic game or acomputer terminal that may or may not be connected to the Internet, aplayer receives the imitation playing cards and plays a card game eitheragainst the computer or against other players. Further, many of thesegames can be played on the computer in combination with gambling.

Also, there are many game shows that are broadcasted on television thatuse a deck of playing cards in the game play, in which the cards areusually enlarged or shown on a video screen or monitor for easy viewing.In these television game shows, the participants play the card game forprizes or money, usually against each other, with an individual actingas a host overseeing the action.

Also, there are lottery tickets that players purchase and play by“scratching off” an opaque layer to see if they have won money andprizes. The opaque layer prevents the player from knowing the results ofthe lottery ticket prior to purchasing and scratching off the layer. Insome of these lottery tickets, playing cards are used under the opaquelayer and the player may need to match a number of similar cards inorder to win the prizes or money.

XII. Rules of Card Games Rules of Poker

In a basic poker game, which is played with a standard 52-card deck,each player is dealt five cards. All five cards in each player's handare evaluated as a single hand with the presence of various combinationsof the cards such as pairs, three-of-a-kind, straight, etc. Determiningwhich combinations prevail over other combinations is done by referenceto a table containing a ranking of the combinations. Rankings in mosttables are based on the odds of each combination occurring in theplayer's hand. Regardless of the number of cards in a player's hand, thevalues assigned to the cards, and the odds, the method of evaluating allfive cards in a player's hand remain the same.

Poker is a popular skill-based card game in which players with fully orpartially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot. The pot isawarded to the player or players with the best combination of cards orto the player who makes an uncalled bet. Poker can also refer to videopoker, a single-player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine, orto other games that use poker hand rankings.

Poker is played in a multitude of variations, but most follow the samebasic pattern of play.

The right to deal each hand typically rotates among the players and ismarked by a token called a ‘dealer’ button or buck. In a casino, a housedealer handles the cards for each hand, but a button (typically a whiteplastic disk) is rotated clockwise among the players to indicate anominal dealer to determine the order of betting.

For each hand, one or more players are required to make forced bets tocreate an initial stake for which the players will contest. The dealershuffles the cards, he cuts, and the appropriate number of cards aredealt to the players one at a time. Cards may be dealt either face-up orface-down, depending on the variant of poker being played. After theinitial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins.Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by beingdealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt. At the endof each round, all bets are gathered into the central pot.

At any time during a betting round, if a player makes a bet, opponentsare required to fold, call or raise. If one player bets and no opponentschoose to match the bet, the hand ends immediately, the bettor isawarded the pot, no cards are required to be shown, and the next handbegins. The ability to win a pot without showing a hand makes bluffingpossible. Bluffing is a primary feature of poker, one that distinguishesit from other vying games and from other games that make use of pokerhand rankings.

At the end of the last betting round, if more than one player remains,there is a showdown, in which the players reveal their previously hiddencards and evaluate their hands. The player with the best hand accordingto the poker variant being played wins the pot.

The most popular poker variants are as follows:

Draw Poker

Players each receive five—as in five-card draw—or more cards, all ofwhich are hidden. They can then replace one or more of these cards acertain number of times.

Stud Poker

Players receive cards one at a time, some being displayed to otherplayers at the table. The key difference between stud and ‘draw’ pokeris that players are not allowed to discard or replace any cards.

Community Card Poker

Players combine individually dealt cards with a number of “communitycards” dealt face up and shared by all players. Two or four individualcards may be dealt in the most popular variations, Texas hold 'em andOmaha hold 'em, respectively.

Poker Hand Rankings

Straight flush

A straight flush is a poker hand such as Q

J< 10< 9< 8<, which contains five cards in sequence, all of the samesuit. Two such hands are compared by their high card in the same way asare straights. The low ace rule also applies: 5♦ 4♦ 3♦ 2♦ A♦ is a 5-highstraight flush (also known as a “steel wheel”). An ace-high straightflush such as A

K

Q

J

10

is known as a royal flush, and is the highest ranking standard pokerhand (excluding five of a kind).

Examples:

-   7♡ 6♡ 5♡ 4♡ 3♡ beats 5    4    3    2    A-   J    10    9    8    7    ties J♦ 10♦ 9♦ 8♦ 7♦

Four of a Kind

Four of a kind, or quads, is a poker hand such as 9

9

9♦ 9♡ J♡, which contains four cards of one rank, and an unmatched card.It ranks above a full house and below a straight flush. Higher rankingquads defeat lower ranking ones. Between two equal sets of four of akind (possible in wild card and community card games), the kickerdetermines the winner.

Examples:

-   10    10♦ 10♡ 10    5♦ (“four tens” or “quad tens”) defeats 6♦ 6♡ 6    6    K    (“four sixes” or “quad sixes”)-   10    10♦ 10♡ 10    Q    (“four tens, queen kicker”) defeats 10    10♦ 10♡ 10    5♦ (“four tens with a five”)

Full House

A full house, also known as a boat or a full boat, is a poker hand suchas 3

3

3♦ 6

6♡, which contains three matching cards of one rank, plus two matchingcards of another rank. It ranks below a four of a kind and above aflush. Between two full houses, the one with the higher ranking set ofthree wins. If two have the same set of three (possible in wild card andcommunity card games), the hand with the higher pair wins. Full housesare described by the three of a kind (e.g. Q-Q-Q) and pair (e.g. 9-9),as in “Queens over nines” (also used to describe a two pair), “Queensfull of nines” or simply “Queens full”.

Examples:

-   10    10♡ 10♦ 4    4♦ (“tens full”) defeats 9♡ 9    9    A♡ A    (“nines full”)-   K    K    K♡ 3♦ 3    (“kings full”) defeats 3    3♡ 3♦ K    K♦ (“threes full”)-   Q♡ Q♦ Q    8♡ 8    (“queens full of eights”) defeats Q♡ Q♦ Q    5    5♡ (“queens full of fives”)

Flush

A flush is a poker hand such as Q

10

7

6

4

, which contains five cards of the same suit, not in rank sequence. Itranks above a straight and below a full house. Two flushes are comparedas if they were high card hands. In other words, the highest rankingcard of each is compared to determine the winner; if both have the samehigh card, then the second-highest ranking card is compared, etc. Thesuits have no value: two flushes with the same five ranks of cards aretied. Flushes are described by the highest card, as in “queen-highflush”.

Examples:

-   A♡ Q♡ 10♡ 5♡ 3♡ (“ace-high flush”) defeats K    Q    J    9    6    (“king-high flush”)-   A♦ K♦ 7♦ 6♦ 2♦ (“flush, ace-king high”) defeats A♡ Q♡ 10♡ 5♡ 3♡    (“flush, ace-queen high”)-   Q♡ 10♡ 9♡ 5♡ 2♡ (“heart flush”) ties Q    10    9    5    2    (“spade flush”)

Straight

A straight is a poker hand such as Q

J

10

9♡ 8♡, which contains five cards of sequential rank, of varying suits.It ranks above three of a kind and below a flush. Two straights areranked by comparing the high card of each. Two straights with the samehigh card are of equal value, and split any winnings (straights are themost commonly tied hands in poker, especially in community card games).Straights are described by the highest card, as in “queen-high straight”or “straight to the queen”.

A hand such as A

K

567 J

10

is an ace-high straight, and ranks above a king-high straight such as K♡Q

J♡ 10♡ 9♦. But the ace may also be played as a 1-spot in a hand such as5

4♦ 3♦ 2

A

, called a wheel or five-high straight, which ranks below the six-highstraight 6

5

4

3♡ 2♡. The ace may not “wrap around”, or play both high and low in thesame hand: 3

2♦ A

K

Q

is not a straight, but just ace-high no pair.

Examples:

-   8    7    6♡ 5♡ 4    (“eight-high straight”) defeats 6♦ 5    4♦ 3♡ 2    (“six-high straight”)-   8    7    6♡ 5♡ 4    ties 8♡ 7♦ 6    5    4♡

Three of a Kind

Three of a kind, also called trips, set or a prile, is a poker hand suchas 2♦ 2

2♡ Kz,25 6

, which contains three cards of the same rank, plus two unmatched cards.It ranks above two pair and below a straight. Higher ranking three of akind defeat lower ranking three of a kinds. If two hands have the samerank three of a kind (possible in games with wild cards or communitycards), the kickers are compared to break the tie.

Examples:

-   8    8♡ 8♦ 5    3    (“three eights”) defeats 5    5♡ 5♦ Q♦ 10    (“three fives”)-   8    8♡ 8♦ A    2♦ (“three eights, ace kicker”) defeats 8    8♡ 8♦ 5    3    (“three eights, five kicker”)

Two Pair

A poker hand such as J♡ J

4

4

9¢, which contains two cards of the same rank, plus two cards of anotherrank (that match each other but not the first pair), plus one unmatchedcard, is called two pair. It ranks above one pair and below three of akind. Between two hands containing two pair, the higher ranking pair ofeach is first compared, and the higher pair wins. If both have the sametop pair, then the second pair of each is compared. Finally, if bothhands have the same two pairs, the kicker determines the winner. Twopair are described by the higher pair (e.g., K♡ K

) and the lower pair (e.g., 9

9♦), as in “Kings over nines”, “Kings and nines” or simply “Kings up”.

Examples:

-   K♡ K♦ 2    2♦ J♡ (“kings up”) defeats J♦ J    10    10    9    (“jacks up”)-   9    9♦ 7♦ 7    6♡ (“nines and sevens”) defeats 9♡ 9    5♡ 5♦ K    (“nines and fives”)-   4    4    3    3♡ K♦ (“fours and threes, king kicker”) defeats 4♡ 4♦ 3♦ 3 10    (“fours and threes with a ten”)

One Pair

One pair is a poker hand such as 4♡ 4

K

10♦ 5

, which contains two cards of the same rank, plus three unmatched cards.It ranks above any high card hand, but below all other poker hands.Higher ranking pairs defeat lower ranking pairs. If two hands have thesame rank of pair, the non-paired cards in each hand (the kickers) arecompared to determine the winner.

Examples:

-   10    10    6    4♡ 2♡ (“pair of tens”) defeats 9♡ 9    A♡ Q♦ 10♦ (“pair of nines”)-   10♡ 10♦ J♦ 3♡ 2    (“tens with jack kicker”) defeats 10    10    6    4♡ 2♡ (“tens with six kicker”)-   2♦ 2♡ 8    5    4    (“deuces, eight-five-four”) defeats 2    2    8    5♡ 3♡ (“deuces, eight-five-three”)

High Card

A high-card or no-pair hand is a poker hand such as K♡ J

8

7♦ 3

, in which no two cards have the same rank, the five cards are not insequence, and the five cards are not all the same suit. It can also bereferred to as “nothing” or “garbage,” and many other derogatory terms.

It ranks below all other poker hands. Two such hands are ranked bycomparing the highest ranking card; if those are equal, then the nexthighest ranking card; if those are equal, then the third highest rankingcard, etc. No-pair hands are described by the one or two highest cardsin the hand, such as “king high” or “ace-queen high”, or by as manycards as are necessary to break a tie.

Examples:

-   A♦ 1♦ 9    5    4    (“ace high”) defeats K    Q♦ J    8♡ 7♡ (“king high”)-   A    Q    7♦ 5♡ 2    (“ace-queen”) defeats A♦ 10♦ 9    5    4    (“ace-ten”)-   7    6    5    4♦ 2♡ (“seven-six-five-four”) defeats 7    6♦ 5♦ 3♡ 2    (“seven-six-five-three”)

Decks Using a Bug

The use of joker as a bug creates a slight variation of game play. Whena joker is introduced in standard poker games it functions as a fifthace, or can be used as a flush or straight card (though it can be usedas a wild card too). Normally casino draw poker variants use a joker,and thus the best possible hand is five of a kind, as in A♡ A♦ A

A

Joker.

Rules of Caribbean Stud

Caribbean Stud™ poker may be played as follows. A player and a dealerare each dealt five cards. If the dealer has a poker hand having a valueless than Ace-King combination or better, the player automatically wins.If the dealer has a poker hand having a value of an Ace-King combinationor better, then the higher of the player's or the dealer's hand wins. Ifthe player wins, he may receive an additional bonus payment depending onthe poker rank of his hand. In the commercial play of the game, a sidebet is usually required to allow a chance at a progressive jackpot. InCaribbean Stud™ poker, it is the dealer's hand that must qualify. As thedealer's hand is partially concealed during play (usually only one card,at most) is displayed to the player before player wagering is complete),the player must always be aware that even ranked player hands can loseto a dealer's hand and no bonus will be paid out unless the side bet hasbeen made, and then usually only to hands having a rank of a flush orhigher.

Rules of Blackjack

Some versions of Blackjack are now described. Blackjack hands are scoredaccording to the point total of the cards in the hand. The hand with thehighest total wins as long as it is 21 or less. If the total is greaterthan 21, it is a called a “bust.” Numbered cards 2 through 10 have apoint value equal to their face value, and face cards (i.e., Jack, Queenand King) are worth 10 points. An Ace is worth 11 points unless it wouldbust a hand, in which case it is worth 1 point. Players play against thedealer and win by having a higher point total no greater than 21. If theplayer busts, the player loses, even if the dealer also busts. If theplayer and dealer have hands with the same point value, this is called a“push,” and neither party wins the hand.

After the initial bets are placed, the dealer deals the cards, eitherfrom one or more, but typically two, hand-held decks of cards, or from a“shoe” containing multiple decks of cards, generally at least four decksof cards, and typically many more. A game in which the deck or decks ofcards are hand-held is known as a “pitch” game. “Pitch” games aregenerally not played in casinos. When playing with more than one deck,the decks are shuffled together in order to make it more difficult toremember which cards have been dealt and which have not. The dealerdeals two cards to each player and to himself Typically, one of thedealer's two cards is dealt face-up so that all players can see it, andthe other is face down. The face-down card is called the “hole card.” Ina European variation, the “hole card” is dealt after all the players'cards are dealt and their hands have been played. The players' cards aredealt face up from a shoe and face down if it is a “pitch” game.

A two-card hand with a point value of 21 (i.e., an Ace and a face cardor a 10) is called a “Blackjack” or a “natural” and wins automatically.A player with a “natural” is conventionally paid 3:2 on his bet,although in 2003 some Las Vegas casinos began paying 6:5, typically ingames with only a single deck.

Once the first two cards have been dealt to each player and the dealer,the dealer wins automatically if the dealer has a “natural” and theplayer does not. If the player has a “natural” and the dealer does not,the player automatically wins. If the dealer and player both have a“natural,” neither party wins the hand.

If neither side has a “natural,” each player completely plays out theirhand; when all players have finished, the dealer plays his hand.

The playing of the hand typically involves a combination of fourpossible actions “hitting,” “standing,” “doubling down,” or “splitting”his hand. Often another action called “surrendering” is added. To “hit”is to take another card. To “stand” is to take no more cards. To “doubledown” is to double the wager, take precisely one more card and then“stand.” When a player has identical value cards, such as a pair of 8s,the player can “split” by placing an additional wager and playing eachcard as the first card in two new hands. To “surrender” is to forfeithalf the player's bet and give up his hand. “Surrender” is not an optionin most casino games of Blackjack. A player's turn ends if he “stands,”“busts” or “doubles down.” If the player “busts,” he loses even if thedealer subsequently busts. This is the house advantage.

After all players have played their hands, the dealer then reveals thedealer's hole card and plays his hand. According to house rules (theprevalent casino rules), the dealer must hit until he has a point totalof at least 17, regardless of what the players have. In most casinos,the dealer must also hit on a “soft” 17 (e.g., an Ace and 6). In acasino, the Blackjack table felt is marked to indicate if the dealerhits or stands on a soft 17. If the dealer busts, all remaining playerswin. Bets are normally paid out at odds of 1:1.

Four of the common rule variations are one card split Aces, earlysurrender, late surrender and double-down restrictions. In the firstvariation, one card is dealt on each Ace and the player's turn is over.In the second, the player has the option to surrender before the dealerchecks for Blackjack. In the third, the player has the option tosurrender after the dealer checks for Blackjack. In the fourth,doubling-down is only permitted for certain card combinations.

Insurance

Insurance is a commonly-offered betting option in which the player canhedge his bet by wagering that the dealer will win the hand. If thedealer's “up card” is an Ace, the player is offered the option of buyingInsurance before the dealer checks his “hole card.” If the player wishesto take Insurance, the player can bet an amount up to half that of hisoriginal bet. The

Insurance bet is placed separately on a special portion of the table,which is usually marked with the words “Insurance Pays 2:1.” The playerbuying Insurance is betting that the dealer's “hole card” is one with avalue of 10 (i.e., a 10, Jack, Queen or King). Because the dealer's upcard is an Ace, the player who buys Insurance is betting that the dealerhas a “natural.”

If the player originally bets $10 and the dealer shows an Ace, theplayer can buy Insurance by betting up to $5. Suppose the player makes a$5 Insurance bet and the player's hand with the two cards dealt to himtotals 19. If the dealer's hole card is revealed to be a 10 after theInsurance betting period is over (the dealer checks for a “natural”before the players play their hands), the player loses his original $10bet, but he wins the $5 Insurance bet at odds of 2:1, winning $10 andtherefore breaking even. In the same situation, if the dealer's holecard is not one with a value of ten, the player immediately loses his $5Insurance bet. But if the player chooses to stand on 19, and if thedealer's hand has a total value less than 19, at the end of the dealer'sturn, the player wins his original $10 bet, making a net profit of $5.In the same situation, if the dealer's hole card is not one with a valueof ten, again the player will immediately lose their $5 Insurance bet,and if the dealer's hand has a total value greater than the player's atthe end of both of their turns, for example the player stood on 19 andthe dealer ended his turn with 20, the player loses both his original$10 bet and his $5 Insurance bet.

Basic Strategy

Blackjack players can increase their expected winnings by several means,one of which is “basic strategy.” “Basic strategy” is simply somethingthat exists as a matter of general practice; it has no officialsanction. The “basic strategy” determines when to hit and when to stand,as well as when doubling down or splitting in the best course. Basicstrategy is based on the player's point total and the dealer's visiblecard. Under some conditions (e.g., playing with a single deck accordingto downtown Las Vegas rules) the house advantage over a player usingbasic strategy can be as low as 0.16%. Casinos offering options likesurrender and double-after-split may be giving the player using basicstrategy a statistical advantage and instead rely on players makingmistakes to provide a house advantage.

A number of optional rules can benefit a skilled player, for example: ifdoubling down is permitted on any two-card hand other than a natural; if“doubling down” is permitted after splitting; if early surrender(forfeiting half the bet against a face or Ace up card before the dealerchecks for Blackjack) is permitted; if late surrender is permitted; ifre-splitting Aces is permitted (splitting when the player has more thantwo cards in their hand, and has just been dealt a second ace in theirhand); if drawing more than one card against a split Ace is permitted;if five or more cards with a total no more than 21 is an automatic win(referred to as “Charlies”).

Other optional rules can be detrimental to a skilled player. Forexample: if a “natural” pays less than 3:2 (e.g., Las Vegas Stripsingle-deck Blackjack paying out at 6:5 for a “natural”); if a hand canonly be split once (is re-splitting possible for other than aces); ifdoubling down is restricted to certain totals (e.g., 9 11 or 10 11); ifAces may not be re-split; if the rules are those of “no-peek” (orEuropean) Blackjack, according to which the player loses hands that havebeen split or “doubled down” to a dealer who has a “natural' (becausethe dealer does not check for this automatically winning hand until theplayers had played their hands); if the player loses ties with thedealer, instead of pushing where neither the player or the dealer winsand the player retains their original bet.

Card Counting

Unlike some other casino games, in which one play has no influence onany subsequent play, a hand of Blackjack removes those cards from thedeck. As cards are removed from the deck, the probability of each of theremaining cards being dealt is altered (and dealing the same cardsbecomes impossible). If the remaining cards have an elevated proportionof 10-value cards and Aces, the player is more likely to be dealt anatural, which is to the player's advantage (because the dealer winseven money when the dealer has a natural, while the player wins at oddsof 3:2 when the player has a natural). If the remaining cards have anelevated proportion of low-value cards, such as 4s, 5s and 6s, theplayer is more likely to bust, which is to the dealer's advantage(because if the player busts, the dealer wins even if the dealer laterbusts).

The house advantage in Blackjack is relatively small at the outset. Bykeeping track of which cards have been dealt, a player can takeadvantage of the changing proportions of the remaining cards by bettinghigher amounts when there is an elevated proportion of 10-value cardsand Aces and by better lower amounts when there is an elevatedproportion of low-value cards. Over time, the deck will be unfavorableto the player more often than it is favorable, but by adjusting theamounts that he bets, the player can overcome that inherentdisadvantage. The player can also use this information to refine basicstrategy. For instance, basic strategy calls for hitting on a 16 whenthe dealer's up card is a 10, but if the player knows that the deck hasa disproportionately small number of low-value cards remaining, the oddsmay be altered in favor of standing on the 16.

There are a number of card-counting schemes, all dependent for theirefficacy on the player's ability to remember either a simplified ordetailed tally of the cards that have been played. The more detailed thetally, the more accurate it is, but the harder it is to remember.Although card counting is not illegal, casinos will eject or bansuccessful card counters if they are detected.

Shuffle tracking is a more obscure, and difficult, method of attemptingto shift the odds in favor of the player. The player attempts to trackgroups of cards during the play of a multi-deck shoe, follow themthrough the shuffle, and then looks for the same group to reappear fromthe new shoe, playing and betting accordingly.

XIII. Casino Countermeasures

Some methods of thwarting card counters include using a large number ofdecks. Shoes containing 6 or 8 decks are common. The more cards thereare, the less variation there is in the proportions of the remainingcards and the harder it is to count them. The player's advantage canalso be reduced by shuffling the cards more frequently, but this reducesthe amount of time that can be devoting to actual play and thereforereduces the casino profits. Some casinos now use shuffling machines,some of which shuffle one set of cards while another is in play, whileothers continuously shuffle the cards. The distractions of the gamingfloor environment and complimentary alcoholic beverages also act tothwart card counters. Some methods of thwarting card counters includeusing varied payoff structures, such Blackjack payoff of 6:5, which ismore disadvantageous to the player than the standard 3:2 Blackjackpayoff.

XIV. Video Wagering Games

Video wagering games are set up to mimic a table game using adaptationsof table games rules and cards.

In one version of video poker the player is allowed to inspect fivecards randomly chosen by the computer. These cards are displayed on thevideo screen and the player chooses which cards, if any, that he or shewishes to hold. If the player wishes to hold all of the cards, i.e.,stand, he or she presses a STAND button. If the player wishes to holdonly some of the cards, he or she chooses the cards to be held bypressing HOLD keys located directly under each card displayed on thevideo screen. Pushing a DEAL button after choosing the HOLD cardsautomatically and simultaneously replaces the unchosen cards withadditional cards which are randomly selected from the remainder of thedeck. After the STAND button is pushed, or the cards are replaced, thefinal holding is evaluated by the game machine's computer and the playeris awarded either play credits or a coin payout as determined from apayoff table. This payoff table is stored in the machine's computermemory and is also displayed on the machine's screen. Hands with higherpoker values are awarded more credits or coins. Very rare poker handsare awarded payoffs of 800-to-1 or higher.

XV. Apparatus for Playing Over a Communications System

FIG. 1 shows apparatus for playing the game. There is a plurality ofplayer units 40-1 to 40-n which are coupled via a communication system41, such as the Internet, with a game playing system comprising anadministration unit 42, a player register 43, and a game unit 45. Eachunit 40 is typically a personal computer with a display unit and controlmeans (a keyboard and a mouse).

When a player logs on to the game playing system, their unit 40identifies itself to the administration unit. The system holds thedetails of the players in the register 43, which contains separateplayer register units 44-1 to 44-n for all the potential players, i.e.,for all the members of the system.

Once the player has been identified, the player is assigned to a gameunit 45. The game unit contains a set of player data units 46-1 to 46-6,a dealer unit 47, a control unit 48, and a random dealing unit 49.

Up to seven players can be assigned to the game unit 45. There can beseveral such units, as indicated, so that several games can be played atthe same time if there are more than seven members of the system loggedon at the same time. The assignment of a player unit 40 to a player dataunit 46 may be arbitrary or random, depending on which player data units46 and game units 45 are free. Each player data unit 46 is loaded fromthe corresponding player register unit 44 and also contains essentiallythe same details as the corresponding player unit 40, and is incommunication with the player unit 40 to keep the contents of the playerunit and player data unit updated with each other. In addition, theappropriate parts of the contents of the other player data units 46 andthe dealer unit 47 are passed to the player unit 40 for display.

The logic unit 48 of the game unit 45 steps the game unit through thevarious stages of the play, initiating the dealer actions and awaitingthe appropriate responses from the player units 40. The random dealingunit 49 deals cards essentially randomly to the dealer unit 47 and theplayer data units 46. At the end of the hand, the logic unit passes theresults of the hand, i.e., the wins and/or losses, to the player dataunits 46 to inform the players of their results.

The administrative unit 42 also takes those results and updates theplayer register units 44 accordingly.

The player units 40 are arranged to show a display. To identify theplayer, the player's position is highlighted. As play proceeds, so theplayer selects the various boxes, enters bets in them, and so on, andthe results of those actions are displayed. As the cards are dealt, aseries of overlapping card symbols is shown in the Bonus box. At theoption of the player, the cards can be shown in a line below the box,and similarly for the card dealt to the dealer. At the end of the hand,a message is displayed informing the player of the results of theirbets, i.e., the amounts won or lost.

XVI. Alternative Technologies

It will be understood that the technologies described herein for making,using, or practicing various embodiments are but a subset of thepossible technologies that may be used for the same or similar purposes.The particular technologies described herein are not to be construed aslimiting. Rather, various embodiments contemplate alternate technologiesfor making, using, or practicing various embodiments.

XVII. References

The following patents and patent applications are hereby incorporated byreference herein for all purposes: U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,181, U.S. Pat.No. 6,299,536, U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,103, U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,769, U.S.Pat. No. 7,114,718, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/622,321, U.S.Pat. No. 4,515,367, U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,453, U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,630,and U.S. Pat. No. 7,137,629.

XVIII. Example Embodiments

Some embodiments may relate to fantasy events and/or wagering related tofantasy events. Various examples are given in relation to a popularvariation of fantasy events, namely fantasy sports, but it should beunderstood that various embodiments may include any fantasy event. Insome embodiments, fantasy sports may provide a manner for a participantto act in a role similar to a coach and/or general manager. In someembodiments, a participant may be given the ability to draft, create,trade, dismiss and/or otherwise manage a fantasy team.

A team should be understood to include a club (e.g., soccer club), anindividual in a one or more sport, one or more individuals in one ormore events, and/or other variations of similar concepts. A fantasy teamfor an activity may include one or more members that each correspond toone or more respective real and/or active participants in the activity.For example, a fantasy team for a sport may include one or more playersof the sport. The players may include active players in a real leaguefor the sport. The players may include active league players from one ormore real sports league.

The events, participants, and/or players to which a fantasy event may berelated may include any desired events, participants, and/or players.For example, some events may include political events (e.g., elections),sporting events (e.g., football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer,rugby, golf, tennis, automotive racing, animal racing), competitions(poker, test taking, rock throwing, tree growing), other events, and soon. For example, some participants and/or players may includepoliticians, human players, animal participants, robots, naturalphenomena, plants, physical things, and so on. It should be recognizedthat fantasy event competitions may be constructed based on any kind ofactivity. For example, fantasy competitions may be constructed based onan activity in which participants in the fantasy competition may competevicariously based upon observations or statistics regarding someunderlying activity (e.g., wind speed, elections, tree growth, baseball,and so on).

In some embodiments, a participant in a fantasy sports game may selectmembers to form a fantasy team for a sport. In some embodiments, aparticipant may select or “draft”, currently active real-life players toform a fantasy team. Accordingly, a fantasy team for a sport may includea plurality of members that each correspond to a respective player ofthe sport. In some embodiments, a member of a fantasy team may include agroup of players (e.g., the defense of a particular football team may bea member of a fantasy team, the outfield of a particular baseball teammay be a member of a fantasy team, and so on).

In some embodiments a plurality of participants may form a fantasyleague and draft players in the fantasy league and/or may formindividual fantasy teams irrespective of a league. As an example, in afantasy football league, a plurality of league participants may eachdraft professional football players onto their fantasy team forrespective positions (e.g., quarterback, running back, wide receiver,tight end, kicker, defense, reserve players, etc.) and/or no positiondepending, for example, on rules of a game and/or league. A manner ofdrafting players into a fantasy team may mimic a manner in whichprofessional sports leagues conduct drafts. Some embodiments may includea dynasty-type drafting scheme in which participants maintain apredetermined amount of their team players over the course of a fewseasons, and may further draft new players. Some embodiments may includean auction-type drafting scheme in which participants are allocated acertain monetary value, in which each professional player eligible forselection by a participant is assigned a salary, and in which theparticipants may select players up to the allocated monetary value. Insome embodiments, values of a player may change through a game (e.g.,through a season), and a participant desiring to trade or otherwiseacquire a player at a later point in a game may “pay” a different amountthan at a beginning of a game.

In some embodiments, a number and/or assortment of players on a fantasyteam may be limited by other league participants, by an agreed uponcentral authority, by a computer system hosting the game, by a casino,house and/or sports book hosting the game, and/or by any other manner.In some embodiments in which the certain monetary value is allocated toparticipants, the participants may allocate the provided money towardsplayer selection in any desired manner that may be allowed by suchestablished league rules.

A fantasy sports league may be formed by friends, acquaintances,strangers, and so on at a casino, through a web site, and so on. In someembodiments, a league may have rules regarding a uniqueness of a player.For example in some embodiments, a player may only be part of onefantasy team in a fantasy league, may only appear a maximum of one timein any one fantasy team of a fantasy league, but may appear on multipleteams, may appear any maximum number or no maximum number of times on afantasy team, may appear any number of times in a position played by theplayer in actual games, may appear any number of times in a particularposition, and so on. In some embodiments, teams in a league may includea maximum number of common players (e.g., no team may share more thanone member).

Although an example above describes an auction-type system in whichparticipants have a budget for players, other embodiments may notinclude such a budget and may allow any selection of any playersaccording to any rules or no rules. Some embodiments may not include aleague. For example, in some embodiments, one participant may form afantasy team, and a second participant (e.g., a casino or other venue,another player) may form a second fantasy team. The participants mayenter into a fantasy sports game against one another (e.g., over onegame, over a season, etc.). The participants may not be part of aseparate fantasy league and/or may be considered to be a fantasy leagueof their own. The participants may play the fantasy game through acasino, sports book, web site, and so on. Rules regarding teamformation, player selection, player uniqueness, and so on may beestablished by a venue of the fantasy game.

Some embodiments may not include a league of players and/or a draft.Some embodiments may include individual players that may select membersof a team. Such selection may be based on one or more rules. Forexample, in some embodiments, a number of each of a quarterback, a tightend, a kicker, and so on may be required to be selected. In someembodiments, such member may be unique so that each team and/or eachmatchup of teams may only include one of each member. In otherembodiments, each member may not be unique. In some embodiments, eachteam in a matchup may only include a maximum number of common members.In some embodiments, a player may be presented with available players toadd to a team. Available players may include payers that have not beenselected for a casino team and/or that have not been selected for allcasino teams, players that have not been added more than a maximumnumber of times to one or more other teams and so on in variousembodiments as desired. For example, a determination may be made thatplayer Y has been included in one or more teams (e.g., a casino teamagainst which a player has selected to enter into a match with), so thatwhen available players are presented, player Y may not be available tobe added to a player team. In some embodiments, an interface throughwhich a player may select players may be controlled such that suchplayer Y may be excluded from the interface based on the player havingbeen selected for one or more teams.

In some embodiments, a member of a team may include a portion of a realteam. For example, in some embodiments, in addition to and/or as analternative to a particular member of a team being selected for afantasy team, a portion of a team may be selected for a fantasy team.For example, a defensive team of a football team may be selected for afantasy team regardless of actual members of the defensive team.Accordingly, scoring of such a fantasy team may relate to actions and/orperformance of the entire defensive team rather than a single member ofthe team.

In some embodiments, a participant may take various actions during afantasy game (e.g., though out a season, between individual real games,week-to-week, before a game starts, at halftime). Such actions mayinclude selecting active and/or reserve players, making trades, cutplayers, hire players, assigning players to particular positions, and/orotherwise maintaining the composition of a fantasy team roster. It willbe understood that any desired decision-making capability may be givento a participant. In some embodiments, if a player does not participatein an actual sporting event (e.g., injured, traded, released, etc.), theparticipant must adjust the fantasy team roster accordingly. In someembodiments, such an adjustment may affect odds or other parameters of abet. In some embodiments, a change to a team made by a player and/orotherwise (e.g., an injury occurring in real life causing a player tonot participate in a game) may result in a cancellation of a wager.

In some embodiments, a central authority may establish and/or enforcerules for a fantasy sports game. Such a central authority may include acasino, a server, a house, a book maker, a web site, and so on. Such acentral authority may be referred to as a commissioner, and/or atreasurer. In some embodiments, multiple entities may operate asseparate parts of such a central authority (e.g., one treasurer and onecommissioner). In some embodiments, the central authority may beconfigured to determine outcomes of a game, accept wagers, determineodds, accept money, maintain accounts, pay winnings, and so on. Acentral authority may include one or more computing devices (e.g.,servers, processors, mobile devices, and so on) configured to performone or more actions in order to facilitate gaming.

In some embodiments, outcomes of a game of a fantasy sport may be basedon performance statistics related to the sport. For example, one or moreMajor League Baseball games may be a source of such performancestatistics. As another example, game logs from NFL.com may be a sourceof such performance statistics (e.g., a central authority may access thegame logs through a communication network and analyze events in the logsto assign points to one or more fantasy teams). Any number and/orcombination of sources may be used. In some embodiments, an outcomerelated to a participant associated with a first fantasy team may bebased on actual performance of the active players that are members ofthe fantasy team in real life games. A participant's success or failurein a game may correspond to the performance of the active real-lifeplayers in one or more real-life games. In some embodiments, theperformance of all and/or some members of two or more fantasy teams inreal life may be used collectively to determine an outcome of a gameinvolving the two or more fantasy teams and/or points to award to one ormore fantasy teams.

In some embodiments, a central authority may compile and/or accessstatistics related to events in the sport. Such statistics may include,for example, a number of points scored by each player, a number of basesstolen, a number of yards run, a number of passes completed, a finishingposition, a number of assists, a number of interceptions, a number ofblocks, and so on.

In some embodiments, an outcome of a fantasy sports game may be based onthe statistics and/or one or more events in one or more games. Forexample, in some embodiments, a participant may be awarded a number ofpoints for each goal scored in a soccer game if the player that scoredthe goal in real life corresponds to a member of the participant'sfantasy team. Any action may correspond to any number of points to anyone or more participants in any direction (e.g., a block by a member ofa first fantasy team may subtract one point from a participantassociated with a second fantasy team). In some embodiments, events inreal life may have different influence on a fantasy game based on aposition of a real life player on a real life team and/or a position ofa player in a fantasy team. For example, in some embodiments, scoringand/or offensive action by real life players may affect an outcome of afantasy game if one or more real life player responsible for a scoringand/or offensive action is assigned to an offensive position in afantasy team. For example, defensive actions may affect an outcome of afantasy game if one or more real life players responsible for thedefensive action is assigned to a defensive position in a fantasy team.For example, in such an embodiment, a completed pass by a quarterback inreal life may affect an outcome of a fantasy game if the quarterback isassigned to the quarterback position in the fantasy team, but may notaffect the outcome if the quarterback is instead assigned to a runningback, other offensive or defensive position and/or other non-quarterbackposition. In some embodiments, a position of a player on a real lifeteam and/or a position of a player on a fantasy team may have no sucheffect on an outcome.

It should be recognized that any desired method of determining anoutcome based on performance may be used in various embodiments. In someembodiments, such method may be simple and/or complex models of games.

In some embodiments, a system may be configured to provide one or moreparticipants with fantasy sports contest-related information. Fantasysports contest-related information may include any suitable informationassociated with one or more fantasy sports contests. For example,fantasy sports contest-related information may include informationregarding a participant's one or more rosters, a participant's standingin one or more fantasy sports contests, point tallies associated with aparticipant in one or more fantasy sports contests, informationregarding the number of trades that a participant may make, informationregarding the amount of fantasy money available to a participant forcontracting players for a roster, information regarding deadlines tomake trades or to perform any other suitable task associated with one ormore fantasy sports contests, an outcome of a fantasy game and/or anyother suitable information.

In some embodiments, a system may be configured to provide one or moreparticipants with information regarding one or more real life games.Such information may include information regarding real-life athletes(e.g., names, statistics, etc.), real-life sports leagues (e.g., gameschedules, standings, etc.), real-life sporting events (e.g., baseballgames, golf tournaments, tennis matches, etc.), sports arenas, weatherinformation, sports commentary, or any other suitable informationregarding real-life sports or events.

In some embodiments, various types of fantasy games may be played. Forexample, a head-to-head type game may be played in some embodiments. Ahead-to-head game may include a participant competing against one ormore participant (e.g., another player, a casino or other gamingoperator) in a game (e.g., over a week, over a season and so on). Insome embodiments, the fantasy team that accumulates the most points inthe game period based on performance in actual games may win the game.As another example, a “rotisserie league” game may be played in someembodiments. In such a game, participants associated with respectivefantasy teams compile won-lost records by competing head to head againsteach of the other teams in the league. A winner in such a system may bedetermined based on the performance of active real life athletes in reallife games. It should be recognized that any desired game type and/orscoring system may be used in various embodiments.

In some embodiments, a playoff type game may be played. For example,participants may play one or more games during a regular season offantasy games that may or may not correspond to a regular season of anunderlying sport. Participants may be eliminated during the regularseason in some embodiments. Participants may acquire points and/or winsduring the regular season. Participants remaining at some point in thegame, with a most number of points and/or wins at some point in the gamemay qualify for a playoff type game. The playoff game may be similarand/or different to a “regular season” game. For example, a participantmay be able to select members for their playoff team and engage in gamesin the playoffs with the selected fantasy team. A winning of the playoffmay be larger than a winning of a regular season. Players that may beselected may be limited to those players that are participating in aplayoff in an underlying game. Different rules regarding budgets,uniqueness, and/or scoring may be used in a playoff game.

Some embodiments may include a pari-mutual pool for a league. Forexample, each player that enters a team into a league may pay wageramount. The winner of the league may win at least a portion of the poolof wagers.

In some embodiments, a game may include a game against a casino team.For example, a house may establish one or more fantasy teams made up ofmembers of one or more actual teams. A player may establish one or morefantasy teams made up of members of one or more actual teams. Theplayer's fantasy team may compete against the house's fantasy team inone or more games (e.g., a football week, a football season, a four gamestretch, and so on). A player may enter a wager that the player teamwill win and/or that the casino team will win a particular matchup.

In some embodiments, participants may wager on the outcomes of one ormore games. In some embodiments, a fee to enter into a league may becharged and the winner(s) of the league may be assigned desired portionsof the fees. In some embodiments, a player may identify an amount of awager and another player may agree to that amount. The winner of such agame may win the entire wagered amount.

It should be recognized that a fantasy sports game need not be limitedor restricted in time. For example, a fantasy sports contest may last anentire season, a portion of the season, a definite period of time (e.g.,one month, two weeks, three days, one hour, etc.), the duration of aparticular event (e.g., Wimbledon, etc.), a portion of a particularevent, or any other suitable period of time.

In some embodiments, a fantasy sports contests may include event wageroptions. For example, fantasy sports contests may involve a participantwagering on whether particular outcomes will occur (e.g., whether aparticular golfer will make the next put). Such wagers may be placedagainst a house, another participant (e.g., a participant against whom ateam to team wager is placed, and so on).

Some embodiments may include wagering against a house and/or wageringagainst another one or more players. For example, in some embodiments, aplayer may submit a fantasy team to play a game against a casino's ownfantasy team. A player may select a particular fantasy team of a casinofrom among a plurality that a casino may offer in some embodiments(e.g., a casino may identify one or more teams that they have createdfor a player to select to play against). In some embodiments, a playermay create a team for a casino and a team for the player and submit bothteams for a wager (e.g., a player may desire their team to play againsta particular other team that they also select). A player may place awager that one or more such teams (casino teams, and/or player teams)may win and/or may lose.

For example, some embodiments may include displaying a set of fantasyteams that may be wagered against through an interface to a player. Suchfantasy teams may be formed by a casino to allow other players to wageragainst. The player may use such an interface to select a fantasy teamto place a wager against. The interface may identify information aboutan expected performance of each of the teams. For example, the interfacemay identify an expected number of points that each team is expected toearn in a coming game. The interface may identify an amount of moneythat has been wagered on and/or against each team and/or all teams(e.g., amount of money in a pari-mutual pool). It should be recognizedthat any team may be wagered against and or wagered on (e.g., for) inany combination in various embodiments.

Some embodiments may include presenting an interface through which aplayer may form a team for such a wager. Such an interface may allow aplayer to select members of the team from a set of players of a realsport (e.g., players that are expected to play in an upcoming game).Such an interface may present information about each possible member toadd to a team to allow a player to better perform a selection ofmembers. For example, an interface may display an expected number ofpoints that each possible addition to a team may be expected to score ina game. Such an interface may identify if one or more possible membershas been chosen as part of a casino team and/or other team (e.g., thatmay eliminate the selection by a player for a wager against thatparticular team in some embodiments). Such members may be excluded froman interface in some embodiments if rules of such an embodiment preventthe member form being added to a team for some reason (e.g., the memberis in another team, there are already a number of common members toteams and addition of a member would exceed a maximum threshold ofcommon members, a member is expected to be injured, and so on) Such aninterface may identify a number of times a member has been selected fora team and/or an amount of money that has been wagered on and/or againstteams with a member.

In some embodiments, one or more characteristics for a wager involving aplayer's team, a casino's team and/or any number of other teams may bedetermined based on members of each respective team. For example, insome embodiments, odds, moneylines, point spreads, a handicap and/or anydesired characteristic may be determined for a wager on one team againstanother team based on expected performance of members of one teamcompared to members of another team. Various examples of determiningcharacteristics are given herein.

In some embodiments, such information may be displayed in an interfacerelated to a selection of a team. For example, a handicap may bedisplayed in an interface for the selection of a team. Such informationmay identify how a selection of one player or another player hasaffected or would affect a handicap if added to a team. For example, ahandicap may identify a current handicap at a current makeup of a teameven if the team is not complete or finalized. As members are addedand/or change, the handicap may adjust to reflect the next state of theteam.

In some embodiments, a player may form their team and then select acasino team and/or may form and/or select opponent teams in anycombination order or manner as desired. An interface may identify ahandicap of associated with wagers involving each of the possible casinoand/or opponent teams and the selected player team. In some embodiments,one or more teams may not be available for selection in a game against aplayer team based on rules of a venue (e.g., if a casino team includesmore than a number of common members with a player's team, the casinoteam may be excluded from an interface in response to a determination ofsuch common members).

In some embodiments, in response to a selection of a player's teamand/or a opponent's team (e.g., a casino team), such characteristics maybe displayed to a player. For example, in response to a formation of aplayer's team and a selection by that player that the player desires toenter into a wager setting that team against a particular casino team,an indication of a handicap for such a wager may be identified throughan interface to the player. The interface may allow the payer to accept,alter, set a bet amount, reject, and so on the wager having theidentified characteristic. For example, an interface may identify that aplayer may enter into the wager with the player's team being required towin by 8.5 points in order to win the wager. A player may be able towager one either team in such a matchup having such a handicap. Theplayer may enter a dollar amount in response to such an indication toplace a wager, press an accept button to accept a wager, reject a wager,and so on as desired.

It should be recognized that while some embodiments may be described interms of a wager against a casino team and/or a wager against a casino,that other embodiments may include a wager against another player and/ora wager against a team formed by the player and/or another player.Elements of one embodiment may apply to another embodiment in anycombination (e.g., an interface that includes information such ashandicaps about possible opponent teams may be included in a pluralityof embodiments).

In some embodiments one or more characteristics and/or teams may bedetermined based on an exchange and/or matching of two players. Forexample, a player may form a team and identify that they desire a wageron or against such a team. The player may present such information to acasino and/or other player. Another player may enter information aboutan opposing team and submit such information to the casino and/orplayer. A characteristic of such a wager (e.g., handicap) may bedetermined (e.g., by a server, by a casino) and presented to one or moreof the players. One or more of the players may enter bet amount and/oraccept a wager having such a handicap. A wager may be formed between theplayers and/or between each of the players and the casino.

Some embodiments may include a tournament game. For example, a pluralityof players that form a league may compete for a player that wins a mostamount of points over time and/or in a particular game. A winner of sucha tournament may be presented with a pool of money from all the players.

One example fantasy sports system is described in U.S. Pat. No.6,371,855 to Gavriloff, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference. Another example fantasy sports system is described in U.S.Pat. No. 7,001,279 to Barber, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference. Yet another example of a fantasy sports system is describedin U.S. patent publication number 2008/0287198 to Callery, which ishereby incorporated herein by reference.

An example of a fantasy sports system that may include additionalinteractive elements is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,351,150 to Sanchez,which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. One variation of afantasy sports game is given in U.S. patent publication 2005/0064937 toBallman, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. An example ofa fantasy sports betting system that may provide additional advice toplayers is described in U.S. patent publication 2007/0060380 toMcMonigle, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. An examplecommissioner system for a fantasy sports system is described in U.S.patent publication number 2008/0200254 to Cayce, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference. An example system for managing assetsand transactions related to a fantasy sports system is described in U.S.patent publication 2008/0215168 to Charchian, which is herebyincorporated herein by reference. An example of pari-mutual wageringrelated to fantasy sports is described in U.S. patent publication number2009/0023495 to Koustas, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

It should be understood that the above are merely illustrative elementsof fantasy sports contests. Any other suitable arrangement or approachmay be used. It will further be understood that the nature of thefantasy sports contests may vary depending on which activity or sport isinvolved or based on any other suitable criteria.

Some embodiments may include a fantasy sports system. One examplefantasy sports system 200 is illustrated in FIG. 2. As illustrated,fantasy sports system 200 may include a wager system 201, an eventserver 203, a network 205, a client computing device 207, a staffcomputing device 209, a mobile device 211, and an event source 213.

Wager system 201 may be configured to perform any desired servicesrelated to a wager. For example, wager server 201 may receive one ormore indications of wagers. Wager system 201 may match wager bidstogether, may form wagers, may audit wagers, may provide outcomes ofwagers, may act as treasurer or house for a wager, may provide wageringopportunities, and so on. In some embodiments, wager system 201 mayallow a participant to enter into a wager against a house. In someembodiments, wager system 201 may allow a participant to enter into awager against another participant. It should be recognized that wageringsystem 201 may include any number of systems, computing devices, and/orany desired components.

In some embodiments, wager system 201 may include an exchange-basedwagering system. One example exchange based wagering system is describedin U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/831,375 to Burgis and entitledSystem and method for managing risk associated with producttransactions, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. In someembodiments, bid and/or offers for a wager may be received and wagersmay be formed based on the bids and/or offers. A portion of thisapplication, which may be used in some embodiments, and in whichnumerals refer to FIGS. 5, 6, and/or 7, states:

Trade management module 142 is generally operable to identify tradingorders 152 which may be matched, and to match such trading orders 152 toexecute trades. Generally, trade management module 142 identifiesmatches between trading orders 152 to buy particular betting products150 and trading orders 152 to sell the same betting products 150. Trademanagement module 142 may identify trading orders 152 to be matched, orin other words, to determine whether to match particular trading orders152, based at least on the relative quotes, or “prices,” defined by thetrading orders 152. For example, in some embodiments or scenarios, trademanagement module 142 may only match buy and sell trading orders 152having the same quote or price. In other scenarios, trade managementmodule 142 may match orders in which the quote or price for the buyorder 152 is greater than or equal to the quote or price for thecorresponding sell order 152. In still other embodiments or scenarios,trade management module 142 may only match orders in which the quote orprice for the buy order 152 is greater than the quote or price for thecorresponding sell order 152 by a predetermined amount or percentage. Inthis manner, trade management module 142 may match trading orders 152 toexecute trades.

In still other embodiments or scenarios, trade management module 142 maymatch orders in which the quote or price for the buy order 152 isgreater than or equal to the quote or price for the corresponding sellorder 152, as well as orders in which the quote or price for the buyorder 152 is lower than, but within a particular price differential of,the quote or price for the corresponding sell order 152.

As discussed above, order management module 140 may store (or cause thestorage of) trading orders 152 in queues in a predefined manner, such asaccording to a FIFO (first in, first out) basis and/or according to theoffered quote or price of each trading order 152. Trade managementmodule 142 may utilize such queues 144 in order to identify anddetermine whether to match particular trading orders 152. In addition,trade management module 142 may partially or fully match particulartrading orders 152, depending on the unit stake of each trading order152 involved in the trade. For example, suppose User A places a tradingorder 152 to sell a particular betting product 150, betting product X,for $10/point (unit stake) at 42 points (quote). Later, User B places atrading order 152 to sell betting product X for $5/point (unit stake) at42 points (quote). Still later, User C places a trading order 152 to buybetting product X for $25/point (unit stake) at 42 points (quote).

Since User A's and User B's trading orders 152 may be stored in a firstqueue 144 in FIFO order, User A's order will be ahead of User B's orderin first queue 144. Thus, trade management module 142 will first match$10/point of the unit stake of User C's buy order with the $10/pointunit stake of User A's sell order to execute a first trade. Trademanagement module 142 will then proceed to the next order in first queue144, namely User B's order, and match $5/point of the unit stake of UserC's buy order with the $5/point unit stake of User B's sell order toexecute a second trade. Order management module 140 may then store theremaining unmatched $10/point unit stake of User C's buy order in asecond queue 144, which may be matched by subsequently requested sellorders for betting product X at (or below) a quote of 42 points.

In some embodiments, trade management module 142 notifies balancemanagement module 136 each time a trade is fully or partially executed(in other words, each time a trading order 152 is fully or partiallymatched with another trading order 152), such that balance managementmodule 136 may update one or more current balances 160 for the tradingaccounts 154 of each involved user. For example, when a trading order152 is fully matched, balance management module 136 may increase theused margin balance 612 and decrease both the available waived marginbalance 604B and the an available total margin balance 606B in both thebuyer's and the seller's trading accounts 154 by an amount equal to therisk value 332 determined for the buyer's and the seller's relativepositions in the trading order 152. When a trading order 152 ispartially matched, balance management module 136 may increase the usedmargin balance 612 and decrease both the available waived margin balance604B and the an available total margin balance 606B in each of thebuyer's and the seller's trading accounts 154 by an amount equal to therisk factor 330 of the underlying betting product 150 for the buyer'sand the seller's relative positions, multiplied by the portion of theunit stake of the trading order 152 which was matched. As discussedabove, in some embodiments, balance management module 136 may reduceand/or increase one or more current balances 160 in the buyer's and/orseller's trading accounts 154 in a particular order. In this manner,balance management module 136 may manage various current balances 160 ineach trading account 154 over time based on trading activity performedusing such trading accounts 154.

In addition, balance management module 136 may update one or morecurrent balances 160 for each relevant trading account 154 each timeorder management module 140 updates the risk value 332 of a tradingorder 152 placed on trading platform 20. For example, suppose in theexample discussed above in regarding the American football game that 28points have been scored by halftime. Product management module 138 mayupdate the risk factor 330 for the buyer's from 33 points to 5 points,such as described above. As a result, balance management module 136 mayupdate one or more current balances 160 for the buyer which are tied tothe updated risk factor 330, such as the used margin balance 612, theavailable waived margin balance 604B or the available total marginbalance 606B, for example. Such updated balances 160 may affect theamount available for trading 620 in the buyer's trading account 154.

In some embodiments, as balance management module 136 updates one ormore current balances 160 for a particular user's trading account 154,order management module 140 may determine whether each remainingunmatched, or open, trading order 152 placed using that trading account154 is still valid according to the updated current balances 160. Forexample, if balance management module 136 reduces the available waivedmargin balance 604B and the available total margin balance 606B in atrading account 154, which affects the amount available for trading 620in the user's trading account 154, order management module 140 maydetermine whether the updated amount available for trading 620 issufficient to maintain each remaining unmatched trading order 152 madeusing that trading account 154.

For example, order management module 140 may compare the risk value 332of each remaining unmatched trading order 152 with the updated amountavailable for trading 620 in the trading account 154. For each tradingorder 152, if the risk value 332 of that trading order 152 is less thanor equal to the updated amount available for trading 620, the tradingorder 152 is unaffected. However, for each trading order 152 having arisk value 332 greater than the updated amount available for trading620, the unit stake of that trading order 152 may be reduced such thatthe risk value 332 of the trading order 152 is reduced to an amountequal to (or less than) the updated amount available for trading 620.

For example, suppose a user has a trading account 154 having an amountavailable for trading 620 of $10,000 and several open trading orders152, including the following:

Order A: sell order for $200/point at 15 points; risk factor of 15points for a risk value of $3,000.

Order B: buy order for $200/run at 50 runs; risk factor of 30 runs for arisk value of $6,000.

Order C: sell order for $3,000/goal at 4.5 goals; risk factor of 3 goalsfor a risk value of $9,000.

Suppose that Order A is fully matched, and that balance managementmodule 136 reduces the amount available for trading 620 in tradingaccount 154 by the amount equal to the risk value 332 of Order A($3,000) from $10,000 to $7,000. Order management module 140 may thendetermine whether the updated amount available for trading 620 of $7,000is sufficient to maintain each of the user's remaining unmatched tradingorders 152, namely Order B and Order C. Since the risk value 332 ofOrder B ($6,000) is less than the updated amount available for trading620 of $7,000, Order B remains unaltered. However, since the risk value332 of Order C ($9,000) is greater than the updated amount available fortrading 620 of $7,000, the unit stake of Order C is reduced from$3,000/goal to $2,333.33/goal such that the updated risk value 332 ofOrder C is $7,000 (in other words, 3 goals*$2,333.33/goal).

In some embodiments, order management module 140 may increase the unitstake of trading orders 152 that were previously decreased, such asdescribed above, if the amount available for trading 620 in the relevanttrading account 154 is increased. For example, in the example discussedabove, if the amount available for trading 620 in the user's tradingaccount 154 is subsequently increased above $7,000, the unit stake ofOrder C may be increased accordingly up to the original $3,000/goal.

It should be recognized that the above example of a exchange basedwagering system is given as a non-limiting example only. In someembodiments, a wager system 201 may receive an indication of a fantasysports team on which a wager is desired. Wagering system 201 maytransmit an indication of information related to the fantasy sports teamto one or more potential counter parties. The information may includecharacteristics of the team, statistics related to the team, desiredwager amounts, and/or any desired information. Wagering system 201 mayreceive one or more bids to enter into a wager related to the fantasysports team. Each bid may include an indication of a respective secondfantasy team against which the first fantasy team may play in a formedwager. Wagering system 201 may form one or more wagers based on the bidsto fulfill the desires of the initial submitter of the first fantasysports team. In some embodiments, a submitter of the first fantasysports team may be provided with an indication of the bids and beallowed to select the bids that may be used to form the one or morewagers. In some embodiments, a performance value related to each of theteams used to form a wager may be used to determine a payout ratio forthe wager. In some embodiments, wagers may be formed between theparticipants.

In some embodiments, a casino or other venue may act as an intermediary(e.g., wager server) between wagers involving the players. For example,in response to a match, a casino may enter into two offsetting wagers.In some embodiments, a window of time may be set for particular wageringopportunities (e.g., wagering opportunities for particular teams,wagering opportunities for a fantasy game, wagering opportunities with aparticular characteristic, and so on). Some examples of a wageringportal that may be used in some embodiments are described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/979,546, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Event server 203 may be configured to receive and/or process informationregarding events. The events may include real life sporting events. Forexample, events may include hits, runs, completed passes, incompletepasses, interceptions, catches, bases stole, blocks, three point shots,steals, fumbles, shots on goal, and/or any other information. Events mayinclude events at a recent game and/or events from non-recent games.Events may be received substantially simultaneously as the eventhappening.

Event server 203 may determine fantasy sport outcomes and/or pointsbased on the events. For example, in an embodiment in which aparticipant receives a point if a real life player that corresponds to amember of the participant's fantasy sports team scores a touchdown, thenthe event server may be configured to add a point to the participantwhen information identifying that the player scored the touchdown isreceived. In some embodiments, event server 203 may be configured tomaintain historical records of event information. Such information maybe used periodically to determine outcomes and/or points. In someembodiments, event information may be used to determine performancevalues for a fantasy sports team.

Some examples of receiving and processing event information aredescribed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/367,566 to Plott andentitled Mobile Gaming Alert, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Network 205 may include and desired communication network or networks.Network 205 may include wired portions and/or wireless portions. Network205 may include a local network, the internet, and/or any desirednetwork. Network 205 may allow portions of system 200 to communicateamong one another and/or outside systems.

Client computing device 207 may include any desired computing device.Client computing device may be configured to allow a participant toenter and/or access information regarding a fantasy sports game. Forexample, client computing device 207 may include a network connectedcomputer at a casino, at a remote location, and/or at any desiredlocation. Client computing device 207 may include a special purposecomputer configured to display sporting statistics, game feeds, wageroption and so on, on one or more displays. Client computing device 207may include input and/or output elements for money related to one ormore wagers (e.g., a ticket in ticket out device, a credit card device,a cash dispenser, a cash intake element, etc.). Client computing device207 may communicate with one or more other elements of system 200, suchas wager system 201 to submit or receive information. System 200 mayinclude any number of client computing devices that may allow any numberof participants to play any number of fantasy sports games.

Staff computing device 209 may include a computing device configured tobe operated by a staff member of a gaming establishment, such as acasino. Staff computing device 209 may include a device at a sports bookat which a participant may tell a staff member about a desired wager,the staff member may enter the information to create a wager, a bid fora wager, a fantasy sports team, and so on.

Mobile device 211 may include any desired mobile computing device. Forexample, mobile device 211 may include a mobile telecommunicationsdevice such as a cell phone, a mobile gaming device and so on. Anexample mobile gaming device is described in U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/868,013 to Lutnick and entitled Game of Chance ProcessingApparatus, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Otherexample mobile gaming devices may include tablet computers, smartphones, and so on. Mobile device 211 may communicate over a wirelessnetwork, such as a portion of network 205. Mobile device 211 may allow aparticipant to enter and/or receive information related to a fantasysports team and/or game.

Event source 213 may include any desired source of information relatedto events. For example, event source 213 may include a television, anrss feed, a news feed, a news paper publication, an announcer, a website, a log of events, a phone system, a television, and so on. Eventsource 213 may be part of system 200 or may be separate form system 200(e.g., a system run by a sports league or television channel such asESPN, NFL.com, and so on). Event source may be connected to the internetand provide information about events to system 200.

It should be recognized that system 200 is given as an example only.Various embodiments may include additional, alternative, fewer,different, and so on components as desired. For example, someembodiments may include a web server, an authentication server, and orother servers as desired. It should be recognized that system 200 maynot be a singular system, but rather may include various components thatmay be owned, operated, and/or manufactured by different entities.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example process 300 that may be performed in someembodiments. Process 300 may begin at block 301. Process 300 may beperformed by system 200 and/or one or more components of system 200 suchas wagering system 201, event server 203, a processor, and/or any otherdevice.

As indicated at block 303, process 300 may include receiving anindication of a first fantasy team for a sport. The indication may bereceived from a computing device (e.g., a device operated by aparticipant, a client computing device a mobile computing device, staffcomputing device). In some embodiments, the first fantasy team mayinclude a first plurality of members that each correspond to arespective player of the sport, as discussed above. Such a first teammay include a casino team and/or a player team in some embodiments.

In some embodiments, the indication may include an indication of each ofthe members of the fantasy team. In some embodiments, the indication mayinclude an indication of a position for one or more of the members ofthe fantasy team (e.g., quarterback). In some embodiments, an indicationof a fantasy team may include an indication of an outcome of a draft.

In some embodiments, an indication of a fantasy team may include anindication of a selection of members of the fantasy team (e.g., by aparticipant of a fantasy sports game, by a casino as part of a selectionof one or more casino teams). Various examples of forming a team aredescribed above and it should be recognized that an indication of suchforming may be received in any number of ways in some embodiments.

Various examples of rules for a team involving uniqueness and otherelements are described above. Some embodiments may include verifyingthat the team meets requirements.

In some embodiments, at least two of the first plurality of members maycorrespond to a same first player of the sport. It should be recognizedthat in various embodiments, any number of the members may correspond tothe same first player. The members may be assigned same or differentpositions from one another and/or the real player, in variousembodiments. In one example, all members on a team may correspond to asame first player. In some embodiments, two or more members of a teammay correspond to respective players that play in a same position in thesport even if the sport only allows one player to play that position atone time. For example, in some embodiments, a fantasy team may includemultiple members that correspond to players that play as quarterbacks.

It should be recognized that some embodiments may include assigningmembers to a position and some embodiments may not include assigningmembers to a position. Such assignment to a position may and/or may notbe affected by non-unique members. In some embodiments, non-uniquemembers may not be assigned positions at all and may earn points basedon actions of the player regardless of position played by the player. Insome embodiments, non-unique members may be assigned positions and mayearn points based on actions of the player that are relevant to eachassigned position.

As indicated at block 305, process 300 may include receiving anindication of a second fantasy team for the sport. Such receiving may besubstantially similar to the receiving of block 303. Such receiving maybe from a player of a fantasy sports game (e.g., a player that desiresto play their selected team against a casino's selected team in afantasy sports matchup). The second fantasy team may include a secondplurality of members that each correspond to a respective player of thesport. The second fantasy team may include a casino team and/or a playerteam.

In some embodiments, at least one of the second plurality of memberscorresponds to the same first player of the sport discussed above. Insome embodiments, for example, the first fantasy team includes one ormore of the first player and the second fantasy team includes one ormore of the first player. A combined number of times the first player isincluded in any number of times may not be limited in some embodiments.A combined number of times the first player is included in any number oftimes may be limited in some embodiments. In some embodiments, a numberof members of a first team and a second team that are common may belimited (e.g., a second team may be rejected or otherwise not allowed tobe selected if the number of common members exceeds a threshold number).

As indicated at block 307, process 300 may include receiving anindication of respective statistics related to each of the correspondingplayers of the sport. Statistics may include any information that maydescribe happenings in one or more sport. For example, statistics mayinclude a statistic related to past performance of one or more playersof the sport. For example, a statistic may include a number of completedpasses, a number of yards run last game, a number of games played in acareer, a current earn run average, a percentage of free throws made,and/or any desired information. Such an indication may be received froman event source (e.g., from a historical database of an event source).It should be recognized that any information regarding one or moremembers of one or more teams may be received in various embodiments.Such information may include information about prior games.

As indicated at block 309, process 300 may include determining, based onthe respective statistics, the first fantasy team, and the secondfantasy team, a characteristic (e.g., a payout ratio, a handicap, otherodds, a minimum wager, a maximum wager, and so on) for a wager involvingthe first fantasy team and the second fantasy team. A payout ratio mayinclude an amount that a participant associated with each respectiveteam may be paid if they win a wager involving the two teams. In someembodiments determining the payout ratio may include determining thepayout ratio so that a team with players that have better statistics mayreceive a lower payout than a team that includes players with worsestatistics. A handicap may include an amount of points that one teammust win against another team to be considered a win by the one team. Ahandicap may be determined such that a team with players that havebetter statistics may have to win by at least some number of points tobe considered a winning team.

Some embodiments may include determining characteristics related to awager and/or (possible) member of a team. For example, some embodimentsmay include determining an expected number of points that a team and/ormember may earn in a game. For example, a fantasy team selected by aplayer and/or casino may include a number of members. A determination ofa number of points that each team and/or member may earn in a fantasygame may be determined in some embodiments. In some embodiments, adetermination based on such expectation may be used to determine a odds,moneyline, payout ratio, handicap, and/or other characteristic of awager.

A determination of an expected number of points for a member may includedetermining a number of points that the member is expected to earn basedon historic performance of the player. The historic performance mayinclude performance from all prior games, recent prior game, prior gamesagainst an opponent (e.g., team, coach, player) that the member will beplaying an upcoming real game that may be used as a basis fordetermining an outcome of a fantasy game, history of home and/or awaygames, and so on. Various weightings may be given to historicinformation to make such a determination. For example, recent games maybe given more weight than non-recent games in determining an expectedpoints. If an upcoming game is an away game, away games may be givenmore weight than home games.

Games against same opponents may be given more weight than games againstdifferent opponents. It should be recognized that any combination ofweights and information may be used in determining an expected number ofpoints for a particular member as desired and that examples given arenon-limiting. Such information may be displayed through one or moreinterfaces in some embodiments.

In one particular non-limiting example, player X may have an expectednumber of points to be earned in an upcoming game. In the past twoseasons, player X may have earned an average of 70 points each game. Inthe current season, the player may have earned 60 points for two of thethree games. One of the three games may have been against team A andmember may have earned 80 points. Such information may be received insome embodiments. A determination of an expected points may be made byan algorithm that takes such information into account. For example, anexpected number of points may be determined such that expected pointsare equal to 70 times A (e.g., 0.33)+70 times B (e.g., 0.33)+60 times C(e.g., 0.1)+60 times C (e.g., 0.1)+80 times D (e.g., 0.13). In thisexample embodiment such an expected number of points may equal 68.6.

In some embodiments, a sum of points of each member of a team may beused to determine an expected number of points for a team. For example,a sum of a casino team member may be used to determine an expectednumber of points that the casino team will earn. As another example, asum of expected points for each member of a player team may be used todetermine an expected number of points for a player team to earn in agame.

Some embodiments may include determining a characteristic for a wagerbased on such characteristics of a team. For example, a characteristicof a wager may be determined based on expected points of one or moreteams and/or one or more members. For example, a handicap may bedetermined for a game involving two teams based on a comparison ofexpected pointed for each of the teams. For example, as a non-limitingexample, if a first team has an expected number of points of 100 and asecond team has an expected number of points of 110.5, a handicap may be10.5 points. Such a handicap may include an amount of points that asecond team may be required to win by in order for a wager on the secondteam to be a winning wager. Such information may be presented to a userthrough an interface (e.g., an interface for selecting a team, aninterface for making a wager, and so on. In some embodiments, a houseedge may be added to one or more sides or teams as desired.

It should be recognized that various examples of characteristicdetermination are given as non-limiting examples only. Other embodimentsmay include any desired methodology. For example, in some embodiments,actual expected events of a real game may be determined (e.g., expectedpassing yards, expected touchdowns), and based on such expected events,an expected score may be determined. As another example, someembodiments may include adjusting a characteristic based on other wagers(e.g., if many players wager on a particular team to win, the team maybe given an increase in expected points; if a player that has a winningrecord wagers on a team to win, the team may have an adjustment made tothe expected points, and so on).

In some embodiments, determining the payout ratio may includedetermining an expected performance value for the first team and/or thesecond team. An expected performance value may include an indicator ofexpected performance based upon statistics of players on a team. Anexpected performance value may include an indication of an expectednumber of points that a team may earn based on the statistical data. Insome embodiments, a payout ratio may be based on a comparison of the twoexpected performance values (e.g., a ratio of the two values, a formulaapplied to the two values, etc.).

Some embodiments may include displaying one or more of the expectedperformance values and/or the payout ratio to a participant (e.g., auser associated with one of the teams). Such information may be used,for example to adjust a team, to verify a wager, and so on.

As indicated at block 311, process 300 may include receiving anindication of a wager involving the first fantasy team and the secondfantasy team. The indication may be received from one or more clientcomputers, from a wager system, and so on. The wager may include a wagerthat a first team may beat a second team (e.g., over a period of time,in a game, in a season, and so on) and/or a second team will beat afirst team. The wager may include a wager that one fantasy team willoutperform another fantasy team over a period of time. In someembodiments, a participant associated with one or more of the fantasyteams may view information related to the wager and/or verify the wager.

In some embodiments, various wager related actions may be performed,such as debiting and/or crediting accounts, obtaining signed contracts,collecting chips or money, and so on.

As indicated at block 313, process 300 may include determining anoutcome of the wager. The outcome of the may be determined based onstatics of events happening after the wager. For example, events relatedto players in the teams may be used to determine points for each team,as described above. A comparison of the points may be used to determinethe winning team. In some embodiments, determining the outcome mayinclude includes determining the outcome based on events in one or moregames involving the players on each fantasy team. Some embodiments mayinclude receiving an indication of the performance of the players (e.g.,from an event source).

As indicated at block 315, process 300 may include transmitting anindication of a payout amount based on the outcome of the wager and thepayout ratio/odds/moneyline. Such a payout amount may be determinedbased on the outcome and the payout ratio. Such an indication may bemade to a client. In some embodiments, such an indication may include anindication that a payment was made. In some embodiments, such anindication may be displayed on a display. In some embodiments, such anindication may include an indication to a staff member to pay aparticipant an amount. In some embodiments, such an indication mayinclude an indication that an amount should be transferred from oneaccount to another account.

Process 300 may end at block 317. It should be recognized that process300 is given as a non-limiting example only. Other embodiments mayinclude additional, alternative, differently ordered, more, fewer,different, and/or same actions as desired. In some embodiments, forexample, rather than a wager involving only two team, a wager mayinvolve any number of teams, such as a league of participants.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example process 400 that may be performed in someembodiments. FIG. 4 may begin at block 401. Process 400 may be performedby system 200 and/or one or more components of system 200 such aswagering system 201, event server 203, a processor, and/or any otherdevice.

As indicated at block 403, process 400 may include receiving anindication of a first fantasy team for a sport. In some embodiments, thefirst fantasy team may includes a first plurality of members that eachcorrespond to a respective player of the sport. In some embodiments, atleast two of the first plurality of members correspond to a same firstplayer of the sport. Receiving the indication of the first fantasy teammay be substantially similar to receiving the indication describedabove.

As indicated at block 405, process 400 may include receiving anindication of respective statistics related to each of the players onthe firs fantasy team. In some embodiments, statistics include astatistic related to past performance of the players in the sport.Receiving such information may be substantially similar as receivingstatistics described above.

As indicated at block 407, process 400 may include determining, based onthe respective statistics, and the first fantasy team, a first expectedperformance value for the first fantasy team. The first expectedperformance value may include a value associated with the statistics sothat a team with players that have higher past performance statisticsresult in a higher performance value. In some embodiments, an expectedperformance value may include a numerical indicator of expectedperformance based upon statistics of players on a team. Determining anexpected performance value may be substantially similar as describedabove.

As indicated at block 409, process 400 may include transmitting anindication of an available wager involving the first fantasy team. Theindication may include an indication of the expected performance value.Such an indication may be presented on an exchange based wagering systemas described above. For example, an indication of a desire to enter intoa wager involving the first fantasy team may be presented to possiblecounter parties.

The indication of the expected performance value may be useful forpossible counter parties. For example, such information may be used bysuch participants to determine how good a team is, how many stars are ona team, and so on.

As indicated at block 411, process 400 may include receiving a pluralityof bids to enter into the available wager. In some embodiments, each bidincludes a respective second fantasy team for the sport. Some examplesof bidding related to wagers are described above with respect toexchange based wagering. In some embodiments, each bid includes arespective second expected performance value for a respective secondteam.

In some embodiments, bids may be selected to form a wager. In someembodiments, bids may be shown to a submitter of the first fantasy teamand the submitter may select bids to accept. It should be recognizedthat any method of determining how one or more desires to enter into awager involving the first fantasy team should be fulfilled may be used.

In some embodiments, a bid may include an amount to be wagered. In someembodiments, a bid may include one or more indications of acharacteristic of a wager.

As indicated at block 413, process 400 may include forming a wagerinvolving the first fantasy team and one second fantasy team associatedwith a bid. Such forming may be similar to matching bids and offersrelated to wagers in an exchange based wagering system, as describedabove. It should be recognized that any method of entering one personinto a wager with another person or entity may be used in variousembodiments. Some embodiments may include forming a plurality of wagers.For example, a house may enter into a wager with a first player thatsubmitted the first team and one or more other wagers with one or moreother players that submitted bids. Accordingly, the house may act as anintermediary rather than the players having wagers directly against eachother, they would have wagers with the house.

In some embodiments, the wager may include a wager that a first fantasyteam will outperform a second fantasy team over a period of time. Insome embodiments, the second fantasy team may include a plurality ofmembers corresponds to the same first player of the sport.

Some embodiments may include determining an expected performance valuefor each of the second fantasy sports teams. Such expected performancevalues may be determined substantially similarly to the determinationsdescribed above.

In some embodiments, one or more characteristics of a wager may bedetermined based on one or more expected performance value. For example,in some embodiments, a comparison of an expected performance value of afirst fantasy team with an expected performance value of a secondfantasy team may be used to determine a spread or handicap for a wagerinvolving the two teams. For example, in some embodiments, a payoutratio or other odds for the wager may be determined based on acomparison of the expected performance ratios.

In some embodiments, a bid for a wager may include an indication of oneor more characteristics for the wager. For example, a bid may include anindication of a payout ratio for the wager, an amount of a wager, amaximum amount of a wager, a handicap, and so on. Such information maybe used to select one bid over another. For example, in someembodiments, a bid may be selected to form the wager based on anexpected performance value of the second team and/or a payout ratioproposed by the bid. For example, a bid that has a most favorablecomparison of expected performance value to payout ratio may be selectedfor the wager. Such a selection may take place by a computing deviceand/or a submitter of the first fantasy team. In some embodiments, a bidmay be selected so that a payout ratio compared to a ratio of expectedperformance values is most beneficial to a submitter of one of the bidand the first fantasy team. Some embodiments may include selecting the asecond team such that a comparison shows that the respective payoutratio associated with a bid that includes the second team is greaterfrom the point of view of the submitter of the first team than a ratioof the first expected performance value to the second expectedperformance ratio.

In some embodiments, a casino may determine a characteristic for a wagerinvolving two players, and/or a wager with the casino for each of twoplayers. For example, a casino may determine a handicap, a payout ratio,odds, and so on for such a wager based on expected number of points thateach team may score.

As indicated at block 415, some embodiments may include determining anoutcome of a wager. A wager may include a wager involving the firstfantasy team and/or one or more respective second teams. A wager mayinclude a wager involving two players. A wage may include a wagerinvolving a player and a casino. Various examples of determining anoutcome are described herein.

As indicated at block 417, process 400 may include transmitting anindication of a payout amount based on the outcome. Such transmittingmay be substantially similar to transmitting described above.

In some embodiments, a wager may include a wager between a casino aneach of the two players rather than between the two players.

Process 400 may end at block 419. It should be recognized that process400 is given as a non-limiting example only. Other embodiments mayinclude additional, alternative, differently ordered, more, fewer,different, and/or same actions as desired.

In some embodiments, a player may enter two teams for a wager and mayplace a wager that one entered team outperforms another entered team. Acasino may take an opposite side of the wager and/or another player maytake the opposite side of the wager (e.g., with or without a casinoacting as an intermediary). In some such embodiments, a casino maydetermine a handicap for each team and may allow a user to select a sideto take based on such a handicap.

In some embodiments, rather than and/or in addition to a bidding system,some e embodiments may include a first in first out system, a systembased on wagered amounts, and/or any other system of matching desires toenter into wagers. For example, a first player may identify that theydesire a wager of 10,000 on team A against team B. A first player thataccepts such a wager may be matched with the player and entered into thewager. Such a wager may include a lower amount (e./g., a lower amountthat the second player desires). Such a wager may include a wager with acasino as an intermediary (e.g., two wagers, one with each player).

It should be recognized that process 300 and process 400 as well assystems in FIGS. 1 and 2 are given as non-limiting examples only.Various embodiments may include any desired processes and/or apparatusas desired.

In some embodiments, a casino and/or player may establish one or morefantasy teams (e.g., two) for a game. For example, on Tuesday, a casinomay establish two teams for a coming week of games and/or a player maysubmit one or more teams that they desire to enter into wagersregarding. The teams may be established based on players of sports thatare expected to play in coming games (e.g., non-injured players, playersscheduled to start).

One or more teams (e.g., a set of casino teams) may be established suchthat at least one team includes players that have a low standarddeviation in their game performance compared to at least one otherplayer (e.g., a team of consistent players). The teams may beestablished such that at least one team includes players that areexpected to perform very well compared to other players (e.g., a team ofstarts). For example, some embodiments may include receiving informationidentifying historic performance of one or more players. A member of ateam may be selected such that the member includes a lower standarddeviation of performance in the historic games than other members. Someembodiments may include a player that has good performance and stableperformance when compared to other players.

A casino may determine an expected points that each of such teams mayearn. Such points may be determined based on historic data in someembodiments. Such points may be determined based on similarities betweenprior games and an upcoming game.

Some embodiments may include receiving an indication of a team from aplayer. A player may select member of the team through an interfaceand/or may select a previously created team. The player may be preventedfrom selecting one or more member of the team if they have been selectedby a casino for a team in some embodiments. In other embodiments suchprevention may not take place. Such selection may take place after acasino has established one or more teams (e.g., before a set of gamesthat may be used to determine results of a fantasy game begins). Aselection of one of the casino teams may be made for a wager thatinvolves the player team and the selected team.

A determination of a number of points that the player's team may earnmay be made. Such points may be determined based on historic data insome embodiments. Such points may be determined based on similaritiesbetween prior games and an upcoming game. A determination of a handicapfor a game between the casino team and the player team may be determinedand provided to a player.

A wager based on the teams and with the handicap may be received fromthe player. An outcome may be determined based on events in real games.A payment may be made for a winning wager.

In some embodiments, a payout may be a static payout based on a wageramount. For example a bet of 1.10 may return a 1.00 for a win (e.g., theplayer may win a dollar for every dollar and ten cents the player wagersand wins). In some embodiments a payout may be based on a different inscores. For example, the more a player's team wins by, the more theplayer may win (e.g., a player may win an extra 10 cents per point perdollar). In some embodiments, a payout may include a pari-mutual payout.For example, each player that enters into a wager against a casino team(a particular casino team, any of a set of casino teams) may have atleast a part of their wager money placed in a pari-mutual pool. A winnermay win the pari-mutual pool or a part of such a pool. For example,winners may share the pool in proportion to a wager amount, and/or awinner may be a player whose team earns a most amount of points over ahandicap. It should be recognized that various payouts are given asexamples only.

In some embodiments, a team may include a particular required make up.For example, a team selected by a player may be required to include 1Quarterback, 2 Running Backs, 2 Wide Receivers or Tight Ends, 1 Kicker,and 1 Defense. In some embodiments the defense may include a team'sdefense(e.g., the defense of the Bears) rather than a individual playeras in the quarterback.

In some embodiments, scoring may include QB/RB/WR/TE: 6 pts for everyrushing or receiving TD, 6 pts for player returning kick/punt for TD, 6pts for player returning or recovering interception/fumble for TD, 4 ptsfor every passing TD, 2 pts for every rushing or receiving 2-ptconversion, 2 pts per passing 2-pt conversion, 1 pt per 10 yards rushingor receiving, 1 pt per 25 yards passing; KICKER: 5 pts per 50+ yard FGmade, 4 pts per 40-49 yard FG made, 3 pts per 39 yard or less FG made, 2pts per rushing, receiving or passing 2-pt conversion, 1 pt per extrapoint made; DEFENSE: 10 pts for 0 points allowed, 7 pts for 2-6 pointsallowed, 4 pts for 7-13 points allowed, 1 pt for 14-17 points allowed, 0pts for 18-21 points allowed, −1 pt for 22-27 points allowed, −4 pts for28-34 points allowed, −7 pts for 35-45 points allowed, −10 points for 46or more points allowed, 3 pts per defensive or special teams' TD, 2 ptsper interception, 2 pts per fumble recovery, 2 pts per blocked punt,PAT, or FG, 2 pts per safety, 1 pt per sack. Such examples are given asnon-limited only. In various embodiments points may be earned and/orlost based on any desired events occurring.

Some embodiments may include adjusting one or more teams and/or one ormore offered wagers based on one or more prior wagers.

For example, in some embodiments, one or more wagers may be made thatone or more fantasy teams will win a game. Such fantasy teams mayinclude a common member. Accordingly, a determination may be made that acasino that accepts those wagers (e.g., that takes the side that the oneor more fantasy teams will lose) has taken an amount of risk that thecommon member will perform well. Conversely, an opposite determinationmay be made if a casino has accepted wagers that one or more teams witha common member will lose because such wagers may amount to the casinotaking on risk that that player performs well.

A casino team may be adjusted to include or exclude such a common memberbased on such a determination. In some embodiments, for example, acasino may determine that most players wager against offered casinoteams and that they have taken on risk that a particular member willperform well. In response to such a determination, the casino may addthat member to a casino team to encourage wagers against that member. Insome embodiments, if a member is on a casino team and the casino hastaken on risk that the player performs poorly, the casino may remove themember from the team and add a replacement member for future wagers.

In other embodiments, selection of such a common member for inclusion ona team may be restricted, and/or acceptance of wagers on one directionor another may be restricted based on such a determination.

Some embodiments may include voiding one or more wagers based on actionsthat occur after a wager is placed. For example, if a member of a teaminvolved in a wager is injured, the wager may be voided. In someembodiments, if a member of one of the teams does not play in a game thewager may be void. Different rules may apply in different games and/orto different members. For example, a wager may not be void if a kickerdoes not play in a football game because there is no kicking opportunityin a game, and/or a defense does not play in a football game becausethere is no defensive opportunity, but a wager may be voided if aquarterback does not play.

It should be recognized that while some embodiments may describedetermining odds, pay ratios, handicaps, and/or other characteristics ofone or more wagers involving pairs of teams, some embodiments mayinclude determining characteristics for a league and/or for any numberof teams in a matchup. For example, a three team matchup may includedetermining odds that any one of the three teams wins and/or assigninghandicaps for each team with respect to another team, and/or determiningpayout ratios for each team if they win, and so on.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example interface through which a user may enterinformation regarding a wager. For example, a user may choose members ofa team, view odds, choose a side to wager on, confirm a wager, and so onthrough such an interface. In the illustrated interface, a user hasselected a player team and chosen a casino team for the player team toplay against. The casino and player team share a defense. A handicap of18 points has been determined (e.g., the player team has an 1 pointadvantage), and a money line of −115 has been determine (e.g., $115 mustbe wagered to win $100).

It should be recognized that while some embodiments may includedetermining a single money lien and/or handicap, some embodiments mayinclude determining a different handicap for one team than anotherand/or a different money lien for one team or another. Some embodimentsmay include an even money line, no handicap, and so on in anycombination as desired. For example, in some embodiments there may be nohandicap and there may be different money lines.

It should be recognized that while various embodiments are given interms of football, other embodiments are not limited to football. Someembodiments may include other sports and/or other events as desired andmay include different rules for different events as desired. For exampledifferent sports may include different numbers of players, differentwager characteristics, and so on.

It should be recognized that reference to a casino are non-limiting andmay include any intermediary, gaming operator, sports book, and so on.

It should be recognized that various orderings of actions arenon-limiting. For example, a player may select a team before a casinoteam is presented and/or a casino team may be presented before a playerselects a team. In some embodiments where a player selects a team first,casino teams that do not include selected players may be displayed butother casino teams may not be displayed.

It should be recognized that while various embodiments may be referredto as having a casino perform one or more actions, that such anidentification of a casino is given as a non-limiting example only. Inother embodiments, any entity and/or entities may perform any desiredaction sin any combination. For example, a gaming provider, a sportsbook, a server, a processor, a computer system, and so on may performone or more actions.

1-21. (canceled)
 22. An apparatus comprising: a processor configured toexecute a plurality of instructions; and a memory on which the pluralityof instructions are stored, in which the instructions, when execute,cause the processor to: receive an indication of a first fantasy teamfor a sport from a first user, in which the first fantasy team includesa first plurality of members that each correspond to a respective playerof the sport, determine, based on at least a first part of receivedstatistics and the first fantasy team, a first expected performancevalue for the first fantasy team; present the first user with anindication of the first expected performance value; after presenting thefirst user with the indication of the first expected performance value,receive an indication of an alteration to the first fantasy team thatresults in a second fantasy team, in which the second fantasy teamincludes a second plurality of members that each correspond to arespective player of the sport; determine, based on at least a secondpart of the received statistics and the second fantasy team, a secondexpected performance value of the second fantasy team; present the firstuser with an indication of the second expected performance value;receive a third fantasy team from a second user, in which the thirdfantasy team includes third plurality of members that each correspond toa respective player of the sport chosen by the second user; in responseto receiving the third fantasy team, determine, based on at least athird part of received statistics and the third fantasy team, a thirdexpected performance value for the third fantasy team; present thesecond user with an indication of the third expected performance value;in response to receiving the second fantasy team and the third fantasyteam, determine a characteristic for a fantasy game involving the secondfantasy team and the third fantasy team defined by the second expectedperformance value and the third expected performance value, and form thefantasy game defined by the characteristic and involving the secondfantasy team and third fantasy team between the first user and thesecond user; and determine an outcome of the fantasy game based on thecharacteristic and performance of the second and third pluralities ofmembers.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, in which the characteristicincludes a handicap.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, in which at leastone member of the second plurality of members and the third plurality ofmembers corresponds to the same first player of the sport.
 25. Theapparatus of claim 22, in which the received statistics includes astatistic related to past performance of players in the sport.
 26. Theapparatus of claim 22, in which the first expected performance value,the second expected performance values, and the third expectedperformance value each include a respective numerical indicator ofexpected performance based upon statistics of players on one or moreteams.
 27. The apparatus of claim 22, in which the first expectedperformance value, the second expected performance values, and the thirdexpected performance value each include respective expected points thatwill be earned in the fantasy game.
 28. apparatus of claim 22, in whichthe game includes respective wagers that the second fantasy team willoutperform the first fantasy team over a period of time in view of thecharacteristic.
 29. The apparatus of claim 22, in which determining theoutcome of the game includes determining the outcome based on events inone or more games involving the second and third pluralities of members.30. The apparatus of claim 29, in which the plurality of instructions,when executed, further cause the processor to: receive an indication ofthe performance of the second and third pluralities of members in theone or more games.
 31. The apparatus of claim 22, in which each of thefirst performance expectation, the second performance expectation, andthe third performance expectation includes a respective amount ofpoints.
 32. A method comprising: determining, by a networked gamingserver, a first fantasy team for a sport, in which the first fantasyteam includes a first plurality of members that each correspond to arespective player of the sport; determining, by the networked gamingserver based on at least a first part of received statistics from atleast one networked data source and the first fantasy team, a firstexpected performance value for the first fantasy team in a fantasy game;receive, by the networked gaming server from a remote client device of auser, an indication of a second fantasy team for the sport, in which thesecond fantasy team includes a second plurality of members that eachcorrespond to a respective player of the sport, in which the indicationof the second fantasy team identifies each of the second plurality ofmembers that were chosen by the user, determining, by the networkedgaming server based on at least a second part of the received statisticsand the second fantasy team, a second expected performance value of thesecond fantasy team in a fantasy game; populating, by the networkedgaming server, a gaming interface of the remote client device of theuser with an indication of the second expected performance value; afterdetermining the second expected performance value, receiving by thenetworked gaming server from the remote client device of the user, anindication of a third fantasy team that includes at least one differentmember than the second fantasy team; determine, based on at least athird part of the received statistics and the second fantasy team, athird expected performance value of the third fantasy team in thefantasy game; populating, by the networked gaming server, the gaminginterface of the remote client device of the user with an indication ofthe third expected performance value; in response to determining thefirst fantasy team and receiving the indication of the third fantasyteam, determining, by the networked gaming server, a characteristic forthe fantasy game, in which the characteristic is defined by the firstexpected performance value and the third expected performance value, andforming, by the networked gaming server, the fantasy game such that itis defined by the characteristic and involves the second fantasy teamand third fantasy team; and determining, by the networked gaming server,an outcome of the fantasy game based on the characteristic andperformance of the first plurality of members and the second pluralitiesof members with the one different member.
 33. The method of claim 32, inwhich the first fantasy team is determined based on a receivedindication of the first fantasy team that identifies each of the firstplurality of members, and in which the indication of the first fantasyteam and the second fantasy team are received from the user.